dinner/recipes/seafood

Crispy Lemon Sole Recipe

Posted April 2, 2012 by Stephanie

In high school my cooking repertoire consisted of instant noodles, eggs, and Kraft Mac and Cheese. I wasn’t particularly adventurous, but I did love the ritual of putting on a pot of water, opening all the little seasoning packets and cooking instant food. Even though I didn’t know much about cooking, I did want to branch out from instant food, so I turned to my friends for inspiration.

During a lengthy 3 hour conversation with one of my close girlfriends, she told me that she was hungry and was going to make her favourite snack. Eagerly, I asked her what it was.

It’s really simple. Do you have bread?
I do.
Do you have oil?
Yups.
Ok, heat up some oil in a frying pan and fry the bread.

And then?
That’s it.
That’s it?
Trust me, it’s good.

So, I trusted her and we continued to chat while we both made ourselves slices of fried bread. When I tried it, I told her she was right, it was good! Crispy, yet soft, it was like the ultimate slice of toast.

It’s been years since I’ve made fried bread, but when I saw a crispy sole recipe that utilized fried bread, I had to try it. The fried bread provided a nice crunch and the shrimp and cucumbers were fresh and tasty. Even if you don’t give this recipe a go, I think you should try fried bread. Trust me, it’s good.

i am toast-topped, i am fish: i am crispy lemon sole!

Crispy Sole with Shrimp and Cucumber adapted from gq.com
serves 2

  • 1 slice thin white sandwich bread
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • zest and juice of 1/4 lemon
  • 2 sole fillets, skinned
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1/2 cup cooked baby shrimp
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh dill
  • 1/2 tablespoon butter
  • 1/4 cucumber, peeled, de-seeded and sliced

Heat oven to 230°F. Cut the crusts off the bread and use a rolling pin to flatten. Season with a little salt and some of the lemon zest. Season the sole with a bit salt and pepper, place on top of the bread and then trim the fish and bread to ensure they are the same size. Cut in half so you have two pieces.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high and place the fillets, bread side down, in the pan and sautè until golden brown (about three minutes). Remove fish from the pan and place the fillets, bread side up on a tray lined with parchment paper. Place in the oven for 5 minutes to continue cooking.

Warm up the butter in small sauce pan. Add the shrimp, dill, cucumber, lemon juice, remaining zest and season with salt and pepper.

Place a spoonful of the shrimp and cucumber on each place and top with the sole bread side up. Enjoy warm.

6 Comments

  1. It’s approximately 4 hours away from dinner time here and my mouth is watering so bad.

    I need to make this soon.

  2. This is what I want to make for dinner!

  3. jolene • says:

    chanced upon your blog, and i just have to leave a note to tell you that i love love love it! the photo and graphic elements are AWESOME :D

  4. Lynna H. says:

    i`ll definitely try the fried bread when i`m hungry since i`ll usually have bread at home.
    & beautiful pictures ♥

  5. Eve says:

    I lovvvve Heston’s book. I recently went to England and picked one up while I was there – I think this is the recipe that made me drool the most. :) And lovely execution of it! I’m sure Heston would be proud.

    – Eve

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