PLEASE pardon the pun in the title of this month’s recipe! In my defence, I did have a couple of sole on hand. Summer whiting and bream are good options for this recipe as well.

Sole and crabs live in the same hood, so let’s keep them together and add some succulent soul food style crab patties. A great tip is to serve the cornmeal-crusted fish and the crunchy crab balls with some delicious golden potato chips.

Ingredients

1 sole per person

2 eggs, beaten

cornmeal

vegetable oil

Preparation

• Clean and scale the fish, making sure there’s no blood left in the gut cavity or backbone. Quickly wash the whole fish under running water before patting it dry with some paper towel.

• Dip the whole fish into the beaten egg and then into the cornmeal. Pat the cornmeal firmly onto the skin of the fish. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up the cornmeal coating.

• Peel and slice the sweet potatoes.

Think soul food - think breadcrumbs using cornbread. No cornbread? Good old sliced white is fine.

Ingredients

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

1-2 shallots, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 cup crab flesh

2 eggs

freshly ground salt and pepper

Preparation

• Gently combine the ingredients for the balls together in a bowl.

• Refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the mixture to firm up before forming into balls.

• Start cooking the chips first, then the crab balls and the fish last so that everything will be finished at around the same time. You can put the crab balls and chips into a warm oven to stay hot and crisp while you’re cooking the fish.

• Heat some vegetable oil in a heavy-based frypan. Cook the sweet potato chips until they are tender and crispy. Drain the chips on some paper towel and put them in a warm oven to stay crisp and hot.

• While the chips are cooking, heat some oil in another frypan. Add the crab balls to the pan and cook on all sides until they’re golden brown. Drain on some paper towel and place in the oven with the chips.

• Heat some oil in another frypan (yes – you’ll need three frypans!). Wait until the oil is hot and carefully add the coated fish to the pan. Cook for about three minutes on each side until golden brown, depending on the thickness of the fish. Remove the fish from the pan and drain on some paper towel.

To serve, arrange a golden fish on individual serving plates. Add a couple of crab balls and a generous serving of potato chips. Want a little more soul to your dinner? Add a side of slaw and you've got it!