Three Contented Souls!

I look forward to my visits to the Municipal Fish Market in Lagos (Lagos, Portugal that is! Not Nigeria!) I like the hustle and bustle of the place, the calls of the vendors and the smell of the sea and ....... fish! It is high season and the market is very busy with restaurateurs, private shoppers like me and tourists eager to get a feel for the 'real' Portugal. The variety of fish on sale is awesome; some with monster-like faces, some like my sole with hardly a face at all, some pretty and others .......... plain scary . . . . . . . . 

. . . . . . . . . . imagine meeting this monkfish while enjoying a dip in the ocean!
Okay, back to the thread of my blog! I usually go with a particular purchase in mind. Yesterday, it was to buy stone bass, but instead, I left with three handsome soles! They just looked so good, plump and shiny that I couldn't resist. Sole is a great treat for us at home. It's expensive at twenty euro a kilo but I can and do justify it to myself. After all, I'm a woman and there's always a way to justify an expensive purchase (like a must-have pair of shoes!). My justification this time being, that if we ordered them in a restaurant, they would be three times the price. Therefore an absolute bargain, husband dear - I saved money!

My three soles being cleaned by the fishmonger,
who removes all the slimy bits and bobs for me!

So, the evening menu was set. Sole served with baby new potatoes slathered with butter and accompanied by a delicious summer salad. Yum!

I like to oven bake fish - it's very simple - butter a large square of foil, place the fish on top, squeeze the juice of half a lemon and grind some sea salt over the top. Seal the foil and bake for 18/20 minutes at 180/190 degrees centigrade. Serve!

Et Voila!!

The flesh of the fish just fell off the bone - succulent and sweet. By the end of the meal, we were the three contented souls!

Next week, I'll take on the monster monkfish and cook him handsome!