These are two terms I hear used very often by professional chefs, and which correspond to my understanding of 'shallow fry'.

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Note added at 8 hrs (2010-02-25 22:47:24 GMT)
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Note that in FR > EN, 'poêler' is often translated by 'pan-fried' (which amounts to pretty much the same thing)

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Note added at 17 hrs (2010-02-26 07:56:10 GMT)
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R+C lists 'revenir' as 'to brown', though confusingly, in EN > FR, does also give it as a translation for 'to shallow fry'!

However, I refer back to the monolingual TLF entry found by Geneviève, which makes it clear that 'revenir' refers to only a preparatory stage in cooking (this is how I've always understood it, empirically), which seems not to be the case in the current context.

Françoise's reference posting describing 'friture plate' describes 'shallow frying' exactly — though I have to admit I've never personally come across this term.

Just one little note of caution: I think the source text may not be using the term 'shallow fry' accurately in the first place! The fact that it says 'with a little oil' rather suggests they really mean simply 'pan fry' (what we usually do most of the time) — 'shallow fry' is a less common technique these days, I'd say, and still involves quite a bit of oil.

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Note added at 17 hrs (2010-02-26 07:58:10 GMT)
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I think all they really mean is "don't bung it in the deep-fat frier", which is a mistake that increasing numbers of people might make these days, with the high penetration of electric friers.