Sautéed Black Bass Recipe
Maître d'Hôtel Butter, or compound butter, really enhances pan-fried or sautéed fish. Just top the hot fillet with a pat of compound butter and let it form its own sauce as it melts.This recipe uses black sea bass, but you can substitute striped bass, or any lean fish, such as snapper, tilapia or sole.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
- 8 2-oz black bass fillets
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup flour
- 4 tbsp clarified butter (or ¾ stick unsalted butter)
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Ground white pepper, to taste
- 4 Tbsp Maître d'Hôtel Butter
Preparation:
- Soak the fillets in milk for a few minutes, then remove and fully drain them. If they're too wet when you dredge them in the next step, they may become too cakey.
- Spread the flour in a shallow glass baking dish.
- In a nonstick sauté pan, heat a tablespoon of clarified butter over a medium-high heat.
- Dredge the fillets in the flour, tapping them gently to knock off any excess flour.
- Place the fillets in the hot pan, with the flesh side down.
- Sauté for a minute or two or until browned, then gently turn them with a fish spatula, making sure not to break the fillets.
- Brown the other side, then transfer from the pan to a hot plate, two fillets per portion. Top each portion with a slice of Maître d'Hôtel butter (or try one of the other compound butter recipes shown below) and serve right away.
