Black Bass With Silky Rhubarb Sauce Recipes

WHOLE BLACK BASS WITH GINGER AND SCALLIONS

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Put baking dish in roasting pan.
• Rinse fish and pat dry, then rub inside and out with salt. Transfer to baking dish and sprinkle with scallion strips (white and pale green) and ginger.
• Stir together soy sauce and sugar until sugar is dissolved, then pour over fish. Add enough boiling-hot water to roasting pan to reach halfway up side of baking dish. Oil a large sheet of heavy-duty foil, then tent foil (oiled side down) over fish and tightly seal around roasting pan. Carefully transfer roasting pan to oven and bake until fish is just cooked through, 30 to 35 minutes.
• While fish bakes, cut enough scallion greens diagonally into very thin slices to measure 1/2 cup (reserve remainder for another use).
• Just before serving, remove foil from fish and sprinkle with scallion greens. Heat wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes instantly. Pour oil around side of wok, then tilt wok to swirl oil, coating side, and heat until smoking. Remove from heat and immediately pour oil over scallion greens and fish.

ROASTED WHOLE BLACK BASS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Rinse the fish and dry thoroughly with a paper towel. Score each side of the fish 3 to 4 times on a bias, about 1/2-inch deep. Combine the parsley, tarragon and thyme into 1 large bunch with the stems attached, and separate out one-third of the bunch. Finely chop the separated, smaller bunch. Mix with one-quarter of the fennel slices, one-third of the fronds, garlic and capers and 2 of the lemon slices, making a sort of herby citrus marinade. Mix the chopped herb mixture with the olive oil and rub the mixture inside and outside of the fish as well as inside the slits. This will allow the herby citrus flavors to permeate through the fish. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place half of the remaining herbs, fennel, lemon slices, garlic and capers in a bed on the bottom of a roasting pan and the other half inside the cavity of the fish. Place the fish in a roasting pan. Evenly distribute the wine and butter pats in the pan, and place in the oven. The wine will help keep your fish moist and help steam it, as well as making a great sauce with the butter. Roast until the fish has cooked through, or until the skin is crispy and the fish is flaky, 25 to 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the fish to a serving platter with a bed of the Israeli Couscous (be careful, the fish is tender and can break). Pour the sauce from the pan over the fish and fillet to serve.
• Bring 3 cups salted water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the couscous, cover and remove from the heat. Allow the couscous to sit until the water is absorbed, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the currants, fresh herbs, lemon zest and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and stir in a small glug of olive oil before serving. Yield: 6 servings.

ASIAN-STYLE SIZZLING BLACK BASS

Steps:

• Make 4 deep, diagonal slashes down to the bone on both sides of the fish. Insert the ginger into the slashes. Refrigerate the fish until ready to cook.
• In a small saucepan, bring the sake, soy sauce, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and sugar to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, and let it cool. Stir in the sliced scallions.
• Fill a wok or deep-fryer large enough to hold the fish with peanut oil to cover the fish by 1 inch. Heat the oil until very hot, about 375 degrees F on a deep-frying thermometer.
• Season the fish lightly all over with salt and pepper, then dust it lightly but evenly with cornstarch. Hold the fish by the tail, carefully slip it head first and away from you into the hot oil. Fry it until the skin is crispy and golden brown and the flesh is cooked through, flaky, and separates easily from the bone, about 10 minutes.
• With long-handled metal tongs, remove the fish from the wok, letting excess oil drip back into the wok. Transfer the fish to a serving platter. Garnish the fish with scallion strips and cilantro and squeeze the lemon half over it. Serve immediately, passing the sauce on the side.

BLACK SEA BASS WITH SWEET-AND-SOUR ORANGE RHUBARB SAUCE

Steps:

• Arrange oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Cut peel, including white pith, from 3 oranges with a small sharp knife. Working over a bowl, cut segments free from membranes. Squeeze juice from membranes into bowl. Drain off as much juice as possible from segments into a measuring cup. Squeeze enough juice from remaining orange to total 2/3 cup of juice.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil with butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until butter is melted, then cook onion, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes.
• While onion is caramelizing, cook rhubarb, honey, 1/3 cup orange juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb is very tender, about 12 minutes. Force mixture through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl, scraping and pressing hard on solids and discarding them.
• Add ginger and cinnamon to onion and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add remaining 1/3 cup orange juice and boil until thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in rhubarb purée, tomatoes, pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and briskly simmer, stirring occasionally until sauce is thickened slightly, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
• While sauce simmers, grease a 17- by 12-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with remaining tablespoon oil. Pat fish dry and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Arrange fish, skin sides up, in 1 layer in baking dish and bake until opaque and just cooked through, 12 to 14 minutes. Stir orange segments into sauce and cook until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes, and season with salt. Stir mint into sauce and serve with fish.

LEMON AND THYME SEARED BLACK BASS

Steps:

• Season the fish with salt and pepper.
• In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add the oil. Put the fish, skin side down, into the pan.
• Press firmly with a spatula to prevent the skin from curling. Sear for 3 to 4 minutes, then flip. Add the thyme sprigs, the butter and the lemon juice. Cook for an additional 4 minutes. Baste the fish for 30 seconds. Remove the fish from pan and arrange on a platter to serve.
• Cook's Note: Score the skin side of the fish, to prevent it from curling during the cooking.

BLACK BASS WITH SILKY RHUBARB SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Lay the fish skin side down in a baking dish just large enough to fit the fillets. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt. Roast until just cooked through, 15 to 25 minutes.
• In a large sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shiitakes, season with salt and sauté until lightly browned and just softened. Scrape into a bowl, adjust seasoning and keep warm.
• Return the pan to the heat and pour in the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Add the shallots, ginger and rhubarb. Cook, stirring to scrape up any bits, until the rhubarb softens, about 4 minutes. Add 3/4 cup water and the sugar. Season with salt. Cook until reduced by half. Whisk in the butter and cream and then the vinegar. Press the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl.
• To serve, divide the sauce among 4 shallow bowls. Lay a piece of fish in each and top with a spoonful of mushrooms.