Wood Roasted Striped Bass With Meyer Lemon And Olive Relish Recipes

GRILLED STRIPED BASS

Steps:

• Combine oil, lemon juice, thyme or oregano, garlic, and pepper in a large shallow bowl. Add fish to marinade, and turn to coat; cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator 30 minutes.
• Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Remove fish from marinade, letting excess drip off. Place on grill, skin side down, and season with salt. Grill until skin is lightly browned and starting to crisp. Carefully turn fillets, and cook until well browned and cooked through (center will be opaque), 5 to 6 minutes. Garnish with chives and lemon wedges, if desired. Serve hot or at room temperature.

PAN-FRIED STRIPED BASS WITH LEMON SAUCE

Steps:

• For the sauce, whisk together: 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, Salt, Fresh-ground black pepper.
• Taste for salt and lemon juice and adjust as desired. The sauce will separate as it sits; this is not a problem.
• Season: 4 pieces striped bass, skin on (4 to 6 ounces each) with: Salt, Fresh-ground black pepper.
• Choose a heavy-bottomed pan for frying the fish. Take another, slightly smaller pan that will fit into the pan for the fish, and wrap its bottom with foil. This pan will be used as a weight to hold the fish flat against the frying pan to ensure that all of the skin will cook and crisp. (You will see the fish contract when it goes into the hot pan, as the skin shrinks on contact with the heat.) Warm the larger pan over medium-high heat. When hot, pour in: Olive oil, enough to generously coat the bottom.
• Add the pieces of bass, skin side down, and place the foil-wrapped pan on top of the fish. Cook until the skin is brown and crispy, about 7 minutes. Check now and then to see that the fish is indeed browning, but not overbrowning. Adjust the heat up or down to speed up or slow down the cooking as needed. When the skin is browned, remove the top pan and turn the fish. Cook for another minute or so, until the fish is just cooked through, but is still moist and tender inside. Meanwhile whisk the lemon sauce together again and pour it onto a warm plate. Serve the fish skin side up, on top of the sauce.
• Garnish the fish with a couple spoonfuls of chopped tender herbs such as parsley, chives, chervil, cilantro, or basil.
• Soak, rinse, and squeeze dry a tablespoon or so of capers. When the fish is cooked add the capers to the hot pan and sauté for a minute or two. Remove with a slotted spoon and scatter over the fish.
• Make a Beurre Blanc (Warm Butter Sauce; page 228) instead of the olive oil sauce.

OLIVE RELISH

Steps:

• Cook 2 chopped onions in a skillet with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt over low heat, covered, 10 minutes. Uncover and cook until golden, 30 more minutes. Add 1 minced garlic clove, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives and 1/4 cup white wine; cook 10 more minutes.

SALT-BAKED FISH WITH LEMON-OLIVE RELISH

Steps:

• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. Rinse the fish inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. Season inside and out with pepper. Finely chop 2 tablespoons parsley and set aside. Divide the remaining parsley between the fish cavities.
• Toast the fennel seeds in a dry medium skillet over medium heat until golden, about 4 minutes. Grind the toasted fennel seeds in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle; transfer all but 1 tablespoon to an extra-large bowl. Add the salt and lemon zest, then stir in the egg whites until the mixture is the consistency of wet sand.
• Pat a thin layer of the salt mixture, slightly larger than the shape of the fish, on each of 2 rimmed baking sheets. Put the fish on top of each salt pile, then cover completely with the remaining salt mixture, following the shape of the fish and patting down the salt mixture. Before the fish is fully encased, mark the thickest part of each fish behind the neck with a paring knife and make a small hole in the salt mixture (this is where you?ll insert a thermometer).
• Bake the fish until the crusts are golden and a thermometer inserted into the marked spots registers 140 degrees F, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the relish: Mix the olives with the olive oil, lemon juice, reserved 2 tablespoons parsley and 1 tablespoon ground fennel, 1 tablespoon water, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Set aside until ready to serve.
• To remove the salt, crack the crusts all the way around the fish with a paring knife; discard the crusts. Slide a spatula under each end of the fish and transfer to a platter or cutting board. To serve, remove the top fillet of each fish with a butter knife or spoon; discard the skin. Pull off the bone; discard the bone and head. Remove the skin from the bottom fillet. Serve with the lemon-olive relish.

STRIPED BASS WITH POTATOES AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Use a little oil to brush the bottom of a shallow baking dish that can go to the table and is large enough to hold the fish in one piece. Spread potatoes in dish, overlapping, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven.
• Season flesh side of fish with salt and pepper. Place fish skin side up on the potatoes, sprinkle on remaining oil, scatter olives around and place bay leaves on top. Cover with parchment paper and bake 20 minutes, or until fish is just cooked through at the thickest part (a sharp knife will penetrate easily). Garnish with lemon and serve.