The Easiest Way to Cook Fish? Rockfish with Lemon, Wine, Caper, and Butter Sauce

The easiest way to cook a fish fillet and make a nice sauce to accompany it.

Serves 2.

Time requirement: 15-20 minutes.

What you will need:

2 rockfish fillets 6-8 ounces each. Or other thin fillets.

A few pinches each salt and a fresh ground black pepper.

Wondra flour. (Wondra flour because it is precooked.)

1 tablespoon light olive oil or clarified butter.

¼ cup fresh lemon juice.

¼ cup white wine.

1 teaspoon capers, rinse if packed in vinegar, separate from the salt if packed in salt.

2 tablespoon high quality butter. (The butter finishes the sauce, so use a good European style butter or a tablespoon of thick cream.

Warm serving plates!

Preparation:

If the fillets a fresh just pat them dry with paper towels and give the flesh side a pinch or two for salt and pepper. Set them on a plate skin side up. (If you the fillets have any odor their freshness is in doubt, therefore rinse them under cold water then pat dry with paper towels and proceed). Set the Wondra flour nearby.

Combine the lemon juice, wine, and capers in a small bowl.

Select a pan that will accommodate the fillets, and which has a cover. Heat the pan over a medium heat with the olive oil or clarified butter. When the fat in the pan is hot, dust the skin side of the fillets with Wondra flour and slip them, skin side down, into the pan. Cover and cook 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, pour the lemon juice, wine, and caper mixture to the pan; pour it evenly across the pan and quickly return the cover and cook 2 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, uncover, add the butter to the pan and swirl it to melt and thicken the pan juices into a sauce. Serve at one on warm plates.