Sautéed Sole with Red Pepper-Garlic Sauce

While checking out the fish at our local monger this past weekend, my initial thought was to go with the Loch Duart salmon again - it's always reliable - but then I thought perhaps I should try something a bit different this time. I'm noticing that the petrale sole in the display was wild, from Washington state, and at a good price so I picked up a couple of fillets. I had cooked sand dabs from Siren SeaSA recently; this was similar but I wanted to work the sole with a new recipe.
I purchased a cookbook by Jay Harlow last year, West Coast Seafood, from which I'd yet to try anything so this was as good a time as any. Looking through the book, my eye was drawn immediately to this recipe. It also employed a different technique in sauce that looked interesting, so I went with it.

petrale sole fillets

sliced pepper strips with clove of garlic

how to soften butter instantly right from the frig?

put between wax paper and apply a rolling pin

gently sautéing the pepper and garlic in peanut oil

food mill with the finest disc

contents remaining after the milling

pepper-garlic sauce with the butter

after the whisking

floured fillets

sautéing the fillets

done

Ingredients:

Sauce:

2 tablespoons softened butter

1/2 large red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips

1 large clove garlic, peeled and left whole

2 tablespoons peanut (or vegetable) oil

Fish:

2 fillets of petrale sole

all-purpose flour - enough to coat the fillets

kosher salt

fresh-cracked black pepper

Directions:

Heat a skillet over a low flame then add the peanut oil. Sauté the pepper strips and garlic gently until very soft (this took about 10-15 minutes for me). Remove the skillet from heat and remove the pepper and garlic with a slotted spoon to put into a food mill with the finest disc, leaving the oil in the skillet for later. Process into a medium-sized bowl until all of the juices have been milled. You'll also want to make sure to skim anything remaining under the food mill disc into the bowl as well. Once the juices have cooled, whisk in the softened butter until it all combines into a sauce. Put aside.

Dredge the fillets in flour shaking off any excess then season with the salt and pepper. Heat up the skillet again over a medium-high flame, adding a bit more oil if necessary. Once hot add the fillets and cook on one side for about 5 minutes to a good color. Turn over and finish the other side until the meat starts to flake - about 3 minutes.

Remove from the heat and serve with the butter sauce.