Special Sauce

I promised cooking.  I promised seafood.  I am here to deliver. Tonight was my Cali sister's last night in town, and I wanted to make something special for dinner.  To find just the thing, I turned to one of our family's favorite cookbooks, Rao's Cookbook: Over 100 Years of Italian Home Cooking. 

This cookbook is truly the best for classic, flawless Italian recipes.  Rao's also makes amazing jarred marinaras, but that is another story for another post.  This post is about the absolutely delicious Broiled Fillet of Sole I made this evening.  The secret to this light and flavorful dish is a lemon sauce that would be perfection on chicken as well.  Honestly, this is such a versatile and simple marinade, you should probably always have some in the fridge. You start by making the sauce:

Lemon Sauce
Ingredients
2 cups fresh lemon juice
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Whisk together juice, oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, and salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Whisk or shake vigorously before using.
Then, on to the fish:
Broiled Fillet of Sole (serves 6)
Ingredients
6 large pieces fillet of sole, about 2 pounds
3 tablespoons Flavored Olive Oil (recipe follows)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika to taste
Approximately 1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
1/4 cup Lemon Sauce
Directions
1. Preheat broiler.
2. Lightly brush each fillet with oil. Lay on a baking sheet with sides that will fit easily into the broiler. Dust with flour and sprinkle bread crumbs over one side of each fillet and dot with butter. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika.
3. Pour wine or broth and Lemon Sauce into the baking sheet to a depth of 1/8 inch and place under the broiler. Broil, without turning, for 4 to 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily when pierced with a fork. Remove from heat and serve.
Finally, one last thing.  If you don't have a great flavored olive oil on hand, you can whip up this one and use it in a variety of other recipes as well:
Flavored Olive Oil (makes 1 cup)
1 cup fine-quality olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
Heat oil in a small, heavy saucepan on medium-low heat. Add garlic and barely simmer until garlic is just beginning to brown. Remove and discard garlic. Pour oil into a clean container and reserve, at room temperature, to use as flavored oil for frying and sautéing.

The finished product:

So delish.  I served it with risotto and asparagus.

When not chopping garlic and discussing our current stations in life, my sister and I pushed the little guy around in a laundry basket for awhile:

Good stuff.

There's no place like home.