Bass with Lemon Herb Butter

A simple lemon herd butter really enhances pan-fried or sautéd fish. Just top the hot fillet with a pat of compound butter and let it form its own sauce as it melts.

Ingredients

4 (4-ounce) bass fillets

1 cup milk

1/4 cup flour

Kosher salt (to taste)

Ground white pepper (to taste)

4 tablespoons clarified butter (or 3/4 stick unsalted butter)

4 tablespoons of lemon herb butter

Soak the fillets in milk for a few minutes, then remove and fully drain them. If they're too wet when you dredge them in the next step, they may become too cake-y.​

Spread the flour in a shallow glass baking dish and mix in the salt and pepper.

In a nonstick sauté pan, heat a tablespoon of clarified butter over a medium-high heat.​

Dredge the fillets in the flour, tapping them gently to knock off any excess flour.​

Place the fillets in the hot pan, with the flesh side down.​Sauté for a minute or two or until browned. Then gently turn them with a fish spatula, making sure not to break the fillets. Brown this other side - about 1 to 2 minutes.

Transfer from the pan to a hot plate, two fillets per portion. Top each portion with a slice of herb butter (or try one of the other compound butter recipes shown below) and serve right away.

Transfer from pan to hot plate

Enjoy!

Serve