Fall Fried Perch

Fall fishin' 

Fall is a great time for fishing in Vermont; as the water cools down, the fish get hungry. Also, there is less fishing pressure as there usually aren't as many anglers on the water. 

no fishing pressure here

One of my favorite fish to cook and eat is yellow perch. In my April 28 post, I compared frying and baking them.

http://markcrowther.blogspot.com/2014/04/yellow-perch-fried-vs-baked.html

  

I caught some perch at Lake Sadawga, filleted them, and cut them into small pieces. Typically with the fillets I make a beer batter and fish fry, but today I didn't have any beer in the house. Since my wife, Susan Crowther, is an excellent cook, I asked her to cook them for lunch instead.

She dredged the fish in white flour, fried them in grapeseed oil, and took them off the heat while she made a simple sauce called Meuniere of browned butter, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. 

Meuniere sauce

Meuniere is both the preparation and the sauce. Here is a step-by-step recipe for Fish a la Meuniere. Evidently, it was one of the first things she learned at the Culinary Institute of America. Lucky me! 

After making the sauce, she re-added the fish to fry them in the sauce.

almost done

Compared to my beer batter fried perch, these perch were equally delicious but much lighter. Cooked in the lemon and butter sauce, they maintained their delicate flavor. 

cabbage, sauerkraut, quinoa with hot red peppers and perch a la Meuniere

So, maybe running out of beer has its advantages? Post comments below.