Fish for Friday - smoked haddock and grilled sole

Fish on a Friday. Such a tradition when I was little, we always had fish on a Friday, and never, ever on a Monday as my mum said that it was always stale on a Monday.

Well, I can't vouch for the spanking freshness of the fish we had this Friday, as both came from the cheaps counter. But they were very reasonably priced, and still tasted exceptionally good.

Breakfast was a low-carb delight. Smoked haddock simply poached in water, with lots of butter and black pepper. Followed by a large bowl of chopped summer fruit topped with Total Greek Yoghurt.

Dinner was the total luxury of Dover Sole. Far too expensive for my budget at a normal price, these were marked right down to £2.50 each.

People don't buy whole fish it would seem, these just needed skinning  before grilling. Skinning is really easy once you know how - the trick is to slit the skin across the tail on each side, then, working each side it turn,  ease the BLUNT side of a pointed knife under the skin along the side edges to loosen the skin there, use a teatowel to help grip the skin just above the tail, rip the skins up to the head from the tail and cut the head off with the skin.

Oil the fish on both sides and salt and pepper generously. Under a hot grill, baste them with butter frequently and cook for approximately 4 minutes on each side. Sole doesn't flake like cod and haddock, but if you can ease a fillet back from the middle you want to see the bones opaque in the middle when it is cooked through.  Don't overcook it, you will lose the succulence of this prince of fishes.

We ate these quite simply with boiled new potato slices in butter, and a green crunchy salad dressed with Crush Foods lemon dressing, perfect for the flavour of the sole without masking it at all.

 Fish should be eaten more often -  Meatless Monday must be joined by Fishy Friday!!