Whole striped bass is on special

[Anna N]

OK, here's the first off-shoot from this thread:

It's on special thread

Fresh, whole striped bass is available at reasonable prices. I've never cooked it before. I have found an appealing recipe for "Garlic-Roasted Striped Bass" - any other suggestions? I do not have a BBQ but others might be interested in ways of grilling it!

Anna N

[Schielke]

At theMistral Cooking Class we made a dish with striped bass. It was seared in olive oil, then placed on a bed of fava beans, baby artichokes, and grape tomatoes. It was topped with a watercress salad too. Really frigging good.

Ben

[carswell]

Greek style: salted and peppered inside and out, grilled or broiled (skin on), skinned and fileted at table, served with a drizzle of olive oil and a squirt of lemon.

Roasted on a bed of artichokes or fennel.

A great Marcella Hazan recipe. Through the gutting slit in the belly, remove the entire backbone (your fishmonger can do this) from a 3-3½ lb. striped bass. Cover a baking dish with two very large sheets of aluminum foil. Combine 12 freshly cooked mussels, 6 raw shrimp (shelled and deveined), 6 raw oysters (shucked), the shellfish juices, chopped parsley, crushed garlic cloves, olive oil, bread crumbs, thinly sliced onion, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Spoon some of the liquid from the shellfish mix on the bottom of the foil and place the fish on it. Stuff the fish with the shellfish mixture. Coat the outside of the fish with any remaining liquid. Seal the foil tightly. Bake for c. 40 minutes at 475°F. Let rest out of the oven for 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter, cut the foil with scissors, swoon over the delicious aroma, slice like a roast and serve.

Edited June 30, 2003 by carswell (log)

[Suzanne F]

Steamed Chinese-style with a little oil, soy sauce, julienned scallions and ginger.

• Score the skin of the fish
  
• Put most of the ginger and scallions on a heatproof plate
  
• Put the fish on top of them
  
• pour a very little oil, a bit more soy sauce, and a smidge of Chinese wine over the fish
  
• Scatter the rest of the scallions and ginger on top of the fish
  
• Put the plate on the rack of a steamer with an inch or two of boiling water
  
• Cover and let the fish cook about 10 minutes (for a 1 to 1 1/2 lb. fish) -- but check to make sure it's neither under- nor overcooked
  
• Pour off the liquid in the plate before you serve the fish -- it will be somewhat diluted from the steam. If you like, you can thicken it a bit, but a sauce isn't really necessary.
  

The only caveat is that the fish has to be very, very fresh. When this is good, it is GREAT. Simple = YUM.

Edited June 30, 2003 by Suzanne F (log)

[vengroff]

Greek style: salted and peppered inside and out, grilled or broiled (skin on), skinned and fileted at table, served with a drizzle of olive oil and a squirt of lemon.

Very topical. This brings yet another thread into the mix. Scroll down until you start seeing pictures like this one:

Edit: But do serve the skin. It's crisp and delicious.

Edited June 30, 2003 by vengroff (log)

[col klink]

At theMistral Cooking Class we made a dish with striped bass.  It was seared in olive oil, then placed on a bed of fava beans, baby artichokes, and grape tomatoes.  It was topped with a watercress salad too.  Really frigging good.

Ben

Don't forget that the skin was scored to prevent curling and the fillets were thoroughly dried before being thrown into the carbon steel pan.

[torakris]

this is one of my favorite whole fishes to grill (though it can be oven roasted) stuff it with herbs, sprinkle with salt, pepper and EVOO then serve with lemon wedges.

[Jinmyo]

Anna, I agree with all above. Especially vengroff's comment about the skin.

[mise en place]

I've just finished reading Dining at the Pavillon by Joseph Wechsberg. A very enjoyable read about the heyday of what was, to many, the greatest French restaurant outside of France. Anyway, here is the recipe given for Striped Bass Pavillon:

Place a nine-pound striped bass in a pan with one pound of sliced mushrooms, one cup of sliced shallots, one bottle of dry white wine, half a pound of butter; salt, pepper and thyme. Cook in the oven for forty-five minutes at 345 F. Remove the fish from the pan, reduce the liquid to one third of the original volume, blend in cream sauce and cook for fifteen minutes. Add three fresh, stewed tomatoes and one pound of sliced mushrooms, simmer for ten more minutes, add two soup spoons of butter and six egg yolks, mix well and pour sauce over the fish. Place under the broiler until golden brown.