Ingredients

Dover Sole

• 2 x 400-500g Dover soles, skinned and trimmed (see below)
• 100g clarified butter (see below)
• plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper
• 6 raw prawns, peeled and cleaned
• 12 small button mushrooms
• 1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)
• juice of 1/4 of a lemon
• 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

To Garnish

• lemon wedges

Serving Suggestions

• boiled new potatoes
• spinach pan fried in a little olive oil and seasoned with a little salt and pepper, and a pinch of grated nutmeg or green vegetable of your choice

Method

1. Preparation: Coat the Dover soles in the seasoned flour.
2. To Cook: Heat half the butter in a large frying pan until it is foaming. Place the soles in the pan and cook them over a moderate heat for a 2-3 minutes (dependent on size) then turn them over and leave to cook for a further 2-3, until they are golden brown.
3. Place the fish on warming serving plates with the cooking butter and keep them warm.
4. Wipe out the frying pan with kitchen paper. Add the remaining butter to the pan and allow it to foam. Add the prawns, mushroom and garlic to the pan and cook them over a moderate-high heat for 1-2 minutes tossing them regularly. Allow the butter to become a pale brown and remove the pan from the heat. Add the lemon juice and parsley to the pan and pour the butter with prawns and mushrooms over the fish. Garnish the sole with lemon wedges. Serve at once accompanied with your choice of vegetables (see suggestions above).

• Skinning Dover Sole: Lay the fish on a chopping board with the dark skin facing upwards. Make a small slice the skin horizontally across the middle of the tail. Scrape the skin upwards so that you have a small flap of skin that you can grasp with your fingers. Hold the tail with your left hand (right if left handed), get a strong grasp of the skin with your other hand and pull it off towards the head. This should remove the skin, if it tears get your fingers under the skin to create another flap and pull off the remaining skin. Use kitchen scissors to cut away the frill from around the fish.

• Clarified Butter: This is butter that has had the milk solids removed, it can be heated to a high heat without burning. To clarify butter place butter into a heavy based saucepan over a low heat. When melted skim the froth off the surface so that you have a clear yellow surface with a milker layer underneath. Carefully pour the clear yellow layer into a container and discard the milky layer. Clarified butter will keep for 2-3 weeks in the fridge.