free range panko, dover sole, a tangent or 2 and a recipe.

free range panko

I was beside myself in the Whole Foods the other day!  Did you know you can buy free range panko crumbs, in bulk, dirt cheap at the WF!!!   No more expensive cooped-up boxed panko for me!  And, if that wasn’t enough, San Marzano canned tomatoes were on sale! 2 for $4!  Hello!!! I bought like 12 cans, promptly dropping one on my big toe.  I knew my toe was in bad shape right off because I was wearing my sheepy booties and as soon as the can hit my toe my first thought was FUCK that hurt.  However, the WF is no Stop & Shop people!  There is no swearing in the WF!!  Instead, there is chocolate brownie gelato covered in free range m&ms at the gelato bar.  My favorite girl, M. was working the gelato bar, she felt my pain and to ease it, gave me a little extra gelato.  Moving on. I love to eat a gelato and walk around my WF!  I never know what I might find… Dover Sole was on sale!  Who doesn’t love Dover Sole?  It’s so lovely and tender and takes minutes to cook. yums, dinner.  Getting back to the San Marzano canned tomatoes… Oh how I love my San Marzano tomatoes!  Do you know they taste so good because they are grown in soil that contains high levels of volcanic ash. Volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius! If you are going to make a true Napoletana Pizza you must use San Marzano tomatoes.  I will show you all how to make a wood fired grilled Napoletana Pizza in the spring!  It’s right around the corner you know!!  I’m digressing all over the place!  Anyhoo, here’s a nice recipe for Dover Sole:

Dover Sole

1&1/2 pounds of Dover Sole will give you enough to serve 4 people dinner or 2 people dinner with enough left over for a lovely sandwich the next day.

Turn your oven on to the lowest setting.

Beat an egg with a bit of water or milk to loosen it up and make it frothy in a bowl big enough to run the bits of sole through.

In a pie plate put 2 cups or so of panko and spread it out.

Have platter out to put the breaded sole pieces on.

Have another platter ready to put the cooked pieces of sole on.

Run the bits of sole thru the egg mixture- put the pieces in the panko and press down to coat on both sides- place the breaded pieces on platter, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Get out your cast iron or non-stick skillet, heat it up – put a little olive oil in it, just to coat and a tiny bit of unsalted butter- once its melted- add the fish (don’t crowd it!) seasoned side down (now season the top of the fish with salt and pepper).  Let it cook for 2 minutes, flip – cook 2 mins. more- remove from heat, place on the reserved platter, place platter in the middle of your warm oven- continue until all of the fish is cooked.  If your pan gets “dry” as you go along just add a little more olive oil to coat the pan-

I like steamed green beans with a white fish or a nice spinach salad.  Lettuce, is a waste of time.

The next day, if you should have left over sole, warm it up a bit, get a piece of lavash and put some of the left over spinach salad on it- top with the fish and roll it up. Yums!  Or make a fish, spinach and salsa roll up- or, toss it with a bit of mayo, chopped onions and pickles and have yourself a lovely soley feesh samitch.