madbaker | Aaaand another

This week's Resolution Recipe: Sole roasted or fried

Take a sole, and do away the head, and draw him as a Plaice [take a Plaice, and draw him in the side by the head; ...or else take a Plaice and draw him, prick him with a knife for breaking, as he fries, and fry him in hot oil, or else in clarified butter.] and flay him; and make a sauce of water, parsley and salt; and when it begins to boil, skim it clean, and let it boil enough. And if you will have him in this sauce, take him when he is cooked; or else take him raw with a knife and scale him with a knife, and lay him upon a gridiron, and broil him. And take wine and powder of canel, and let boil a while, And cast thereto powder ginger, and verjuice; and cast the sauce on the sole in the dish, and serve him forth hot. Or else take a sole, and so away the head; draw him, scald him, and prick him with a knife in various places for breaking of the skin; and fry it in oil, or else in pure butter.

10 ounces (3 to 4) sole filets, about 3/16" each (I used Trader Joe's frozen sole filets)
1 ounce parsley, stems on, chopped
1/2 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp white balsamic vinegar

Take sole filets, rinse and pat dry. Fry in butter for approximately 3-5 minutes; there should be no need to flip and they will break if you do, says the bitter voice of experience.

Sauce: Bring wine and cinnamon to a boil, add parsley, salt, ginger, and vinegar, and boil for five minutes.

What worked: Kind of boring, but that's all right for a feast.

What didn't: The first pass with sauce using water was waaaay too boring, which is why I conflated the parsley with the wine sauce. That was better, as the wine and balsamic vinegar gave some welcome acidity to a rather boring fish. The chopped parsley kind of clumped unattractively, though - perhaps the solution is to grind it up with a bit of wine and mix into the liquid? That would produce more of a smooth pesto-like sauce, which would be easier to serve and more attractive. I'm not sure it's period, though.

Will I make it again? Well, it's for the feast in the fall. However,