Fish Meunière with Browned Butter and Lemon

I couldn't decide what to make for dinner, so I played a fun little game with my Facebook friends.  I took out 5 large cookbooks, assigned them letters from A to E and then asked my friends to pick a letter and number and then I looked up the recipe from each corresponding page in the cookbook.  I let my husband decide which recipe he liked best of the random numbers.  (Of course, some pages landed on random stuff like "pastry dough" or "mayonnaise" so those didn't seem appealing for dinner).  He picked this fish recipe.  FYI: Meunière means Miller's wife, a reference to the flour used in the recipe.  Unfortunately, I learned it's difficult to find fresh sole or flounder in Wisconsin.  I had to purchase cheap frozen flounder fillets and thaw them out.  They were smaller than the recipe called for, so I reduced the cooking time a little. The recipe was inexpensive, easy, fast, and good.  No complaints.

Fish Meunière with Browned Butter and Lemon
From The New Best Recipe Cookbook 
Serves 2

Ingredients:  
2 sole or flounder fillets (5-6oz each and 3/8" thick)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Browned Butter Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
3/4 tablespoon juice from 1/2 lemon
lemon wedges, for serving, from other 1/2 lemon

Directions:
Pat fish dry with paper towel.  Generously salt and pepper both sides of fish; let stand ~5 minutes until fillets are glistening.  Coat both sides of fillets with flour, shaking off the excess, and place on a baking sheet while the skillet preheats.

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over high heat until shimmering.  Add 1 tablespoon butter and swirl to coat the pan bottom.  When the foaming subsides, carefully place the fillets skin-side-up in the skillet.  Immediately reduce the heat to medium-high and cook, without moving the fish, until the edges of the fish are opaque and the bottom is golden brown, about 3 minutes.  Using 2 spatulas, gently flip the fillets and cook on the second side about 2 minutes, until fish is flaky.

To make the sauce, add butter to the skillet and swirl until melted.  Continue to cook until butter turns golden brown and has nutty aroma.  Remove from the heat and add lemon juice.  Sprinkle the fish with parsley and and spoon some sauce over the top.  Serve immediately with lemon wedge.