Sauteed Sole with Brown Butter with Pecan-Topped Pumpkin Bread

I have to admit, when I first heard the title of the recipe and it involved the words "brown butter" I was pretty much immediately not interested. Who wants to soak their fish in butter? How is that tasty or even a little bit healthy? Well, after repeated assurances from others that this was indeed worth trying, I decided to dive in and give this recipe a go. It didn't hurt that the Dover Sole at my local Whole Foods was half off the week I tried this, either... Let me tell you, all doubts are now gone. What I thought would be bland and oily came out light and delectable. The sauce is mild yet diverting. And believe it or not, only a little bit of butter is used. I have been converted.

To go with the savory fish and the fall weather outside I decided to serve this with pumpkin bread. These come in many varieties with different toppings - and things in them (think chocolate chips.) This is a fairly straightforward one but let me know in the comments if you want some jazzier versions as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the other holidays all descend. (As a Jew I can lump Hanukkah into "other" since come on, it's not really a big deal!) Finally, I rounded out the meal with the brussel sprouts previewed previously. Feel free to add any other vegetable that suits your mood!

Pumpkin Bread
Let's get started with the bread since the fish will come together very quickly once you have this baking in the oven. This is a modified recipe from Cooking Light. You'll quickly find that I left out the pecans that dot this version from the magazine. I do like pecans, sometimes, but wasn't quite in the mood for them on my bread.

The rest of the recipe pretty much went as written. Unfortunately, since you need half a can of pumpkin for a single loaf its hard to split the recipe and do that. I went with two and just informed those who were eating to enjoy the bread effusively...! But you can certainly freeze as instructed if you will not eat it before it goes bad (I'd say you have about a week's worth of eating time.) Enjoy this bread plain, lightly buttered, with cream cheese, or with a maple butter. It also makes a great breakfast on the run in the morning.

Sauteed Sole with Brown Butter
Although I took this recipe from Cooking Light, I did make a few changes to make this more friendly to my own personal tastes. Perhaps the most notable change you will see is the loss of "and Capers" from the title. I'm just not a fan. They're salty and gross as far as I am concerned.

You'll also see the recipe calls for sprinkling salt and pepper on the fish and then cooking it in a pan coated with cooking spray. If you're a regular follower of my recipes, you'll know I definitely skipped the salt part. Why bother? American food is far too salty as far as I am concerned and only increases blood pressures when waist lines are already expanding exponentially. Stay away from it! There's already more than enough if your diet. As a big pepper fan, I did choose to sprinkle that on, however.

Finally, my issue with cooking spray. This is a great invention... for when I'm baking and don't want things sticking to the bottom of the pan. But it's just not so great for sauteing. While it may be fat free, I find just a drop of olive oil (you only really need about 1/2 a tsp) is still marginal in the fat category at such a small amount and truly does add a great flavor. Cooking spray may be a fat saver but it dampens the taste down as well.

Make sure to only cook the fish and shallots when your bread is almost done since they cook quickly. Sole is a thin fish and doesn't take long in the pan. You'll want to serve this meal hot - and enjoy it you will!