A meunière sauce is a simple, rustic brown butter pan sauce. Typically, most recipes will begin with dredged and sautéed fish fillets, or sometimes fillets that have been lightly breaded and pan fried. Then, a one-pan sauce is made of browning butter, adding onions and chopped parsley, and finishing it with a little lemon juice. Variations to the basic recipe include garlic, capers, and thinly sliced lemon slices.
Below is a slideshow of the basic technique, followed by a recipe for Sanddabs Meunière. Begin with fresh sanddabs (and see the sanddab video for the easiest way to prep them). Substitute any other flat fish for the sanddabs.
Sanddabs Meuniere
Ingredients
- Enough sanddab fillets for 4 people
- Flour for dredging
- Oil for frying
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup chopped onions
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- Dash cayenne
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 to 5 thin slices of lemon optional, for garnish
Instructions
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Dredge fillets in flour and shake to remove excess four. Fry in pan with a little oil until browned on both sides, and the fillets are cooked through.
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Transfer fillets to a platter as they are cooked.
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Remove all excess oil from pan. Add in the 3 tablespoons butter, and the onions. Cook until the onions and butter are lightly browned. Add in the parsley. Add the cayenne pepper and salt, to taste. Whisk in the lemon juice and the lemon slices. Cook for 2 minutes, then pour over the top of the sanddabs.
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Serve hot.