French Fridays with Dorie: Back in the Game with Almond Sole Meunière

I'm sure the French Fridays with Dorie gals have given up on me by now (are there ANY men in this group?), but I forewarned them I wouldn't be around for the Sardine Rillettes or Coconut Friands. I contemplated the Navarin Printanier for Easter, but slowly braised lamb stew just didn't meld with my mood that day. I'm back with gusto for the first FFwD recipe of the month, thankful I had the day off yesterday to slip back into my relaxation mode while cooking and photographing.

This week's Almond Flounder Meunière is a mingling of two classic dishes: sole amandine and sole meunière. Sole meunière is a classic French dish consisting of sole, whole or fillet, that is dredged in flour, pan fried in butter and served with the resulting brown butter sauce and lemon. Sole amandine is finished with sautéed sliced almonds (amandine is a culinary term indicating a garnish of almonds). Dorie suggests using baby flounder if you cannot find sole, but I was pleased to see fresh Pacific Dover sole at our local market. This is not the same species as true Dover sole found in European waters, but it has a similar light, moist and mild flavor.

Almond Sole Meunière

Only one side of each fillet is brushed with egg yolk and then pressed into a mixture of ground almonds, lemon zest, a touch of flour, salt, and freshly ground pepper. Only one side? Maybe because the fillets are so delicate and thin, a double coating would overpower the dish?

Ground almonds, lemon zest, flour

Whisk together, season with salt and pepper

Toast sliced almonds for the garnish

Fresh parsley, toasted almonds, nut mixture ready to go

Sole fillets with almond mixture on one side only

Chopped parsley is fine for the garnish, but I'm currently in love with fried parsley leaves after making Thomas Keller's Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Salad. I think the bright green, crispy leaves make a prettier garnish.

Fried Parsley leaves

Dinner at home, for a change

For our side dish, I quickly sautéed broccoli florets in olive oil, smashed garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes. It was nice enjoying dinner at home for the first time in a few weeks!

Broccoli Strascinati

Broccoli Strascinati (Broccoli with Garlic and Hot Pepper)
From Saveur
Serves 2-4

1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch broccoli (about 1 pound), stemmed and cut into florets
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1⁄2 tsp. crushed red chile flakes
Kosher salt, to taste

Heat olive oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and sauté,  turning occasionally, until lightly browned, about 6–8 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of water, and garlic, and saute a few more minutes. Add red chile flakes and saute another few minutes. Season with salt and serve.

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

*Full Disclosure: I am a member of Amazon Affiliates and receive an extremely small commission if you link to Amazon from There's a Newf in My Soup and purchase this fabulous cookbook.