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Crispy Flounder with Pears, Endive and Meyer Lemon

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         My friend, Eric Lemonides, owns Almond Restaurant in Brideghampton and a second Almond on 22nd Street in the City.  Last Monday, when I went to his Bridgehampton address for dinner, he told me that one of the great off-season successes he’s had is his  “Meatless Mondays” menu.  His chef, Jason Weiner, and Jason’s gifted sous chef have devised all kinds of meatless menus.  So today, in their honor, I send you a meal so that you too can celebrate Meatless Mondays.
But even if it’s not Monday, if you are looking for a quick fish dinner, look no further than this recipe, from the appropriately named “Make it Tonight–Just 30 minutes to dinner, start to finish” in Fine Cooking magazine.  It combines pears and endive along with either sole, if you’re feeling posh, or flounder if you aren’t.  Either fish will do but the ingredients you really must have are the Meyer Lemons. You’ll end up with a plate of sunshine in the middle of a early Spring night.  

 

         Meyer lemons are beautiful golden orbs that are smoother, rounder and deeper colored than their standard cousins.  While I would hardly call them sweet, Meyer Lemons don’t have the acid content of a regular lemon.  Now you can use regular lemons in this recipe but you could overwhelm the dish with tartness and a regular lemon would do nothing to dampen down the slightly bitter flavor of the endive.  I had seen some Meyer Lemons at Trader Joe’s and bought them on the spur of the moment, not quite sure what I was going to do with them.  This proved to be a perfect way of using them.  The dish is light and fresh, the fruit and the endive work beautifully together, the crispy fish is a perfect complement to the softened pear and endive.  But please when you make this, have plenty of chives on hand or you’ll be staring at one of the most monochromatic meals you’ve ever put on a plate. So without further ado, here is the recipe:
 


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