Pan-fried lemon sole with a light mushroom risotto

<rant>
"Pan-fried"? As opposed to what, I hear you ask... It's one of those lovely redundant phrases that appears on every menu in the land.  I guess it differentiates from the act of deep-frying, but in reality these days, 'fried lemon sole' sounds somewhat pedestrian without the mention of the pan in which it was cooked.
So maybe, this should be 'pan fried lemon sole with a light saucepan-cooked mushroom risotto' - but that would be silly, wouldn't it?
</rant>

This recipe arose from one of those great I-don't-know-what-to-cook shopping trips, where I simply bought whatever looked good.  My local fishmonger (a chap called Ian in a van) had some very fresh looking lemon sole which caught my fancy.  The greengrocer had some nice mushrooms and - joy of joys - new season garlic.  

I love garlic when it's like this - almost more of a vegetable than a flavouring.  It is much less pungent than when it's been dried for normal use, and doesn't break down into individual cloves so easily.  I'm thinking of getting some more and seeing if I can get hold of some early spring lamb for the weekend...

Given that lemon sole is such a delicate fish, I didn't want to subdue its flavour with an overly powerful and butch red-wine-and-mushroom risotto, so instead chose to cook most of the fungi separately and stir in at the end with plenty of lemon zest and chopped parsley.  

For the risotto:
1oz butter
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 good sized shallot - very finely diced
1/2 head of fresh garlic  -  very finely diced (or 2 cloves of normal garlic, crushed with the flat of a knife with some salt)
2oz finely chopped mushrooms
1 tablespoon or so dried mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes (don't throw the water out!)
4oz arborio rice
Salt & pepper
1 glass Noily Pratt
About 2 pints of good vegetable stock or chicken stock (to include the soaking water from the dried mushrooms)
2oz sliced mushrooms, sauteed in butter
1oz parmesan, finely grated
Very finely grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
1oz butter
2 good handfuls of finely chopped parsley

For the lemon sole:
1 good sized lemon sole
1oz sliced oyster mushrooms, sauteed in butter
2 tablespoons of flour
Salt & pepper
1 oz butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

First, fillet the sole if you haven't got your fishmonger to do this already.  It's pretty simple so long as you have a sharp, flexible knife.  Simply run the knife round the head then down the central lateral line to the tail.  Then - flexing the knife - run it down from the central line to the sides of the fish running along the bones.  I hope this is making sense...  You should remove two fillets from each side of the fish.
Skin the fillets and put to one side.

For the risotto, get the stock on to heat to a gentle simmer.  Melt the butter and olive oil over a gentle heat and soften the shallot, garlic and mushrooms.  Turn up the heat a little and add the rice.  Coat evenly in the butter/oil.  Season.  Ideally, you should now hear the occasional 'ping' as the rice bounces off the side of the pan.  Add the vermouth and stir until it's all been absorbed.  Now add the stock, a ladle at a time stirring often.
When most of the stock has been absorbed and the rice is nearly cooked (still with a little bite), add the butter, lemon zest, parmesan and parsley.  Stir in a last ladle or so of stock, remove from the heat and put the lid on.
Now you can cook the fish.

Season the fish fillets on both sides and dredge in the flour.  Pat gently to remove any excess.  Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan until it's nice and hot and add the fish.  Cook for about a minute on each side.  Heat the mushrooms in the pan at the same time.

Serve the risotto with two fillets of sole laid across and the oyster mushrooms piled on top.  A little chopped parsley garnish doesn't go amiss... 

Will be pleased to hear back from anyone regarding pet-hates from menus as well - from pan-fried to 'nestling on a bed of...' - all menu grievances/howlers/cliches welcome! 

tags: fish  rice  risotto  

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