From The Galley: Baked Summer Flounder - The Fisherman

From The Galley: Baked Summer Flounder

Baked-Fluke
A seasonal fish prepared with a slew of fresh summertime ingredients.

Summer flounder are one of the prime targets of inshore anglers during the summer months and they just happen to be one of the best tasting and most accessible species in our region. When you catch a fluke, bleed it immediately and get it on ice to insure the highest quality fillets.

In this preparation we are using summer ingredients such as zucchini, gold bar squash, eggplant and red peppers. The fluke will be baked with a compound butter that contains zest from lemon, garlic, shallots and fresh thyme.  On top of the compound butter we will toast panko bread crumbs for a great crunchy texture. The red peppers will be transformed to a red pepper purée that will act as the main sauce and our summer vegetables will be grilled and tossed with a lemon vinaigrette.

INGREDIENTS

Compound Butter
1/2 pound of butter
4 cloves of garlic
5 sprigs of picked thyme
2 lemons worth of zest
1 shallot
Salt and pepper to taste

Red Pepper Purée
4 red peppers
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons of olive oil
4 tablespoons of sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Citrus Vinaigrette
3 lemons
1/4 cup Olive oil
2 sprigs of picked Thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Grilled Summer Vegetables
2 zucchini
2 gold bar squash
1 eggplant
1 scallions
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

For the compound butter, remove butter and let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes and then place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until smooth. To make the red pepper puree, dice red peppers and onions and chop garlic. In a pan of hot olive oil, add diced vegetables and sauté until tender. Season with salt and pepper and add sherry vinegar. Reduce the vinegar until dry. Place sautéed vegetables into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. The sauce should be a consistency where it will coat a spoon.

For the citrus vinaigrette, zest lemons into a bowl and then juice all lemons into same bowl. Add picked thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Slowly pour olive oil into bowl while mixing with a whisk. For the summer vegetables, preheat your grill to medium high heat at about 500 degrees. Slice zucchini eggplant and gold bar squash to a 1/4 inch thickness and place in bowl. Cut scallions 4 inches long. Place vegetable oil in bowl with vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Place vegetables on grill and char on both sides. Remove from grill and toss the vegetables in the citrus vinaigrette.

Now it’s time to prepare the fluke. Fillet fluke and remove skin. Season with salt and pepper. Spread compound butter evenly on top of the fillets. Coat the butter with panko bread crumbs and place filets on a sheet pan. Bake in preheated oven to 425 degrees for 15 minutes to cook the fish and to toast the crumbs.

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