Quick and easy

Brown Butter Perch

This is a simple perch recipe from someone who loves perch. I love everything about them — their sweet, delicate flavor, the striking coloration, and the stubborn fight they put up for their size. The key to this recipe is getting the butter to a perfect nutty brown. Technically it's still butter, but something happens when it's toasted like this, and it really does become another ingredient altogether.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 8 ounces fresh perch fillets
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 lemon, cut in half

Step by step

  1. Whisk flour, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a shallow bowl. Gently press perch fillets into flour mixture to coat, shaking off any excess flour.
  2. Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat until butter is foaming and nut-brown in color. Working in batches, cook fillets in brown butter until lightly golden, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer cooked fillets to a plate, squeeze lemon juice over the top, and serve.

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