Baked Sole with Fennel and Mustard Seeds

The hardest ideas about life sometimes have to be changed under the onslaught of circumstances. So, all our lives we were convinced that the sole is a kind of flounder, a thin, lean, most delicate fish. And when thick fillets of white fish 50 cm long appeared on our shelves, on which there were price tags "sea sv / mor." It turned out that this is a Vietnamese catfish, the same sea as we are Hymenoptera. Because it is freshwater. It turned out to be a wonderful fish for baking, though a bit fat. Therefore, we love to cook it with something spicy.

Ingredients

• 1 kg sole fillet
• freshly ground black pepper
• 4 salted crackers
• 1 lemon
• 50 g black mustard seeds
• 1 head of fennel
• 20 g butter
• 34 ml olive oil
• coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Cut off the "bacon" from the sides of the fillet of the sole - a dense white fat, it is not needed. Cut the fillet into 4 equal pieces. Rub chunks on all sides with pepper, leave for 20 minutes.
2. Break the crackers into small pieces. Remove the zest from the lemon with a fine grater, squeeze the juice.
3. Pour mustard seeds into a preheated dry skillet. Cook over medium heat, shaking until seeds start jumping and bursting, 1-2 minutes. Pour hot seeds into a mortar, add a couple of pinches of salt and zest, rub a little; add pieces of crackers and rub until smooth.
4. From the fennel, remove the top damaged leaves, cut the rest into slices about 1.5 cm thick. Heat the butter and olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over low heat. Add fennel, fry, gently inverting 1 time, until golden brown, 5-7 minutes each. from each side.
5. Place the prepared fennel slices, pressing firmly together, in an ovenproof dish or on a baking sheet, and season with salt or pepper. Place the pieces of fish on top just as tightly. Sprinkle with a mixture of crackers with mustard and bake in an oven preheated to 180 ° C until golden brown and fish cooked, 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet. Serve with couscous or rice.