Skate with Browned Butter

Skate is a fish that is tender and creamy, but has a fibrous, meaty texture. Skate is loaded with collagen, which helps it stay moist even after being thoroughly cooked. It's not an easy fish to find, but if you do, you can make this recipe in about 10 minutes with just a few ingredients that you pretty much always have on hand.

Ingredients Needed: (for 2 servings)

• 8.8 ounces skate (2 fillets)
• salt
• pepper
• flour (for dusting)
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 2 TBSP butter
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 TBSP capers
• 1 TBSP parsley, minced

How to Make It:

• Use paper towels to pat the skate dry and then salt and pepper both sides. Dust the fillets with a light coating of flour.
• Heat the olive oil in a skillet until hot and then add the skate. Let it fry undisturbed until it's browned on one side, and then flip and brown the other side. To see if it's done you can either cut into a thick part and see if it's no longer pink, or you can use an instant read thermometer (140 degrees F at the thickest part).
• When the skate is done, transfer it to a serving platter and then pour all the remaining oil out of the pan.
• Add the butter to the pan and let it melt. Once the foaming subsides, the butter should start to brown. Stir constantly until it reaches a medium brown color and then turn off the heat and whisk in the lemon juice. This will spatter a lot, so be careful.
• Add the capers, parsley and lemon zest and then pour the sauce of the skate and serve.

SOURCE: Marc Matsumoto@pbs.org