I'd pan fry them very gently in a little butter - probably with a lid on the pan for most of the time. Then when the fish is cooked and resting whack the heat right up and add some capers and soured cream to the pan juices to make a sauce.
Serve with new potatoes and samphire or fresh podded peas.
The bones are in one plate between two layers of delicious tender tasty flesh. The bones are gelatinous rather than calciumy so if you over cook they start to collapse and its harder to get the flesh off without the plate of bone collapsing. It helps to trim round the thinnest edge of the fish so that it cooks more evenly.Which helps to prevent this, it also stops the flesh at the thin edge welding to the bone and making it harder to eat.
I cook them in a shallow covered pan in the oven drizzled with a little olive oil, medium high heat.
Traditionally they are served with a brown butter caper sauce which means carefully frying capers in a little butter. Don't let the butter get beyond golden brown or it will burn and be bitter. I prefer mine with salt and vinegar.
one of the best fish you can buy, we used to have skate wings when i was a kid, absolutely lovely, don't need a lot of cooking, cook as sunny dave says is good enough.
I ordered skate at our local chippy wing or middle they asked - middle I said and had to wait whilst they battered and fried it got a bit of a shock when they charged £7 just for the fish but it tasted real good, I eat the top side and then flip it over to eat the rest.Chief Stout just wanted haddock.
Its not like seafood though.