Benin Style Grilled Striped Bass 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.

GRILLED STRIPED BASS WITH FIRE-ROASTED ONIONS AND PEPPERS

Steps:

• Preheat a grill to medium high.
• Sprinkle the fish fillets with salt and pepper. Divide the onions, peppers, and garlic into 6 portions. Place a mound of onions, peppers, and garlic in the center of a 12-by-24-inch sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place a portion of the fish on top, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley and add 1/4 cup of the wine. Fold the foil into a packet and seal it on all sides. Repeat with packets for the remaining fillets.
• Place the packets on the grill, seam up, and cook until the fish is opaque, about 15 minutes. It is best to test the cook time with the one packet, as cooking time varies grill to grill. Carefully open the packets and serve with lemon wedges.

GRILLED ROCKFISH (STRIPED BASS)

Steps:

• For this recipe, you will remove the fish's head and butterfly the fish's body, leaving the scales on.
• Start by laying the fish on its side. Using a chef's knife, place the blade where the head meets the gills. Slice off the head making sure to apply firm pressure so that the knife goes through the fish's spine. Discard the head.
• Butterfly the fish. Using a sharp fillet knife, start from the bottom side of the fish just before the tail and run the knife all the way along the fish's body to wear the head was cut. Open up the body and remove the guts with your hands and discard.
• Rinse the fish under cold water to help wash out the cavity. Blot dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper, to taste. The fish is now ready for the grill.
• Prepare the grill for direct heat and preheat to 350 to 400 degrees F.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small pot. Whisk together with the Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice. Keep warm until needed.
• When the grill is ready, place the fish flesh side down onto a well-oiled rack over glowing coals for 8 to 10 minutes. Flip the fish and continue to grill the fish, scale side down.
• Baste the fish with the warm basting sauce every 3 to 5 minutes.
• Grill the fish until the meat is cooked through at the thickest part and the meat begins to flake. Grilling time will vary depending on the size of your fish. A 2 to 3-pound fish usually takes about 15 to 20 minutes more after flipping onto the scale side.

GRILLED STRIPED BASS WITH TOMATOES AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Prepare a grill or grill pan for medium-high heat; lightly oil the grill grates.
• Toss together the olives, parsley, vinegar, tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large bowl. Season lightly with salt and generously with pepper and toss again; set aside until juicy.
• Meanwhile, brush the fish on both sides with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the fish, skin side up, until it has strong grill marks and releases easily from the grill, about 5 minutes. Rotate it about 45 degrees to create a crosshatch pattern and continue to grill for another 3 minutes. Turn the fish over and cook until just opaque throughout and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the side registers about 135 degrees F, 5 minutes more. Transfer to a cutting board.
• Using the natural seams of the fish as a guide, cut into 4 pieces. Put a slice of bread on 4 serving plates. Top with a piece of fish and spoon the tomato mixture and its juices over the top.

GRILLED STRIPED BASS

Steps:

• Prepare grill. Pat fish dry and season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Grill fish on a well-oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals 8 to 10 minutes on each side, or until just cooked through in thickest part.
• Serve fish with chimichurri sauce.

BENIN STYLE GRILLED STRIPED BASS

Steps:

• Cover apple wood chips with water, and soak for 1 hour. Drain well.
• Place chiles in a spice or coffee grinder; process until finely ground. Place 1/8 teaspoon ground chile in a small bowl (reserve remaining ground chile for another use). Add oil, salt, and black pepper, stirring to combine. Rub spice mixture over fish; refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Prepare grill.
• Place wood chips on hot coals. Coat a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil with cooking spray; pierce foil several times with a fork. Place foil on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Place fish on foil; arrange lemon slices over fish. Grill 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve immediately.

BROWN BUTTER STRIPED BASS WITH LIME AND CILANTRO AIOLI

Steps:

• Set up a grill for cooking with direct and indirect heat. If using a charcoal grill, build the coals on one side only. If using a gas grill, heat one side only.
• Make the aioli: In a mixing bowl whisk together the mayo, cilantro, garlic, lime zest and juice. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. (If serving the fish later in the day, let the aioli chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.)
• Pat the fish dry with paper towels, then sprinkle with salt. Brush a cast-iron pan with 1/2 tablespoon butter. Place the fish, skin-side down, in the pan and place the pan on the direct heat side of the grill. Cook until the skin is crisp and has released from the pan, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the fish and add the remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons butter. Move the pan to the indirect heat side of the grill. Let the butter melt and lightly brown, then baste the fish for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and continue basting for another minute. Close the lid of the grill and cook until the fish is cooked through, about 3 more minutes. Remove from the grill and spoon the remaining brown butter in the pan over the fish. Serve with the aioli, cilantro and lime wedges.

COGNAC GRILLED STRIPED SEA BASS

Steps:

• Dip steaks in cold, salted water and pat dry.
• Marinate in remaining ingredients for 1 hour, reserving marinade for basting.
• Place on grill racks sprayed with cooking oil spray or in fish basket over hot coals for approximately 12 minutes, turning once (gas grill set at medium-high). Baste frequently while cooking. Fish will flake easily with fork when done.

GRILLED STRIPED BASS WITH LIME GINGER BROTH

Steps:

• Make ginger juice with the 3 inch knob of fresh ginger by grating it into a thin cotton kitchen towel or piece of cheesecloth, then squeeze the juice into a bowl (you want 2 tablespoons); set aside.
• In a medium saucepan, bring the wine to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes; add vegetable stock, ginger juice, mushrooms, and ginger matchsticks.
• Cook for 3 minutes, then strain the broth back into the saucepan, reserving both the broth and the solids; set aside.
• Blend the butter into the broth with an immersion blender; return reserved solids to broth, along with 2 tablespoons lime juice (any extra can be saved for another use), scallions, cilantro, cayenne, and lime zest; cook for 2 minutes then remove from heat.
• Preheat a grill to medium high; season bass pieces with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil.
• Place bass skin side down on grill and cook 2 minutes, rotate a 1/4 turn and cook 3 minutes; flip and cook until flesh is easily flaked with a knife, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Remove fish to a large oval platter, reheat broth and vegetables, then pour it around the fish; garnish with fresh cilantro sprigs.

GRILLED STRIPED BASS WITH CHARRED KALE AND YELLOW SQUASH

Steps:

• Prepare a hot grill.
• Coat the fish fillets with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt.
• Thinly slice the squash lengthwise, using a mandoline or a very sharp knife, and combine with the kale in a large bowl. Drizzle a couple tablespoons of olive oil over the vegetables. Season with salt.
• Place the prepared fish skin-side down on the grill. After about 4 minutes, or when the skin easily lifts off the grill, flip the fillets.
• While the fish is cooking, place the kale and squash on the grill and watch carefully. Turn the vegetables the moment they begin to show grill marks.
• Once they are charred on both sides, return the vegetables to the large bowl and toss with 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice and chili flakes.
• Remove the fish from the grill after about 4 minutes on its second side, and top with a spoonful of the chimichurri sauce. Serve with the grilled vegetables.

GRILLED STRIPED BASS WITH LEMON AND FENNEL

Steps:

• Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Whisk first 3 ingredients in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Make three 1/2-inch-deep diagonal slits in skin on each side of fish. Brush fish generously inside and out with garlic oil. Sprinkle fish inside and out with coarse salt. Stuff slits with half of fennel fronds. Place remaining fennel fronds inside fish. Place fish in grilling basket. Top fish with lemon slices, overlapping slightly. Close grilling basket (fish and lemon slices should be secured by basket). Grill fish until cooked through, about 10 minutes per side. Remove fish with lemon slices from basket and carefully transfer to platter. Serve.

MARINATED GRILLED STRIPED BASS

Steps:

• Combine olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, cilantro and garlic in a large shallow bowl.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• With the tip of a paring knife, make three diagonal slits through the skin of each filet.
• Place the fish in the marinade and turn to coat the fish.
• Cover and refrigerate at least one hour.
• Light a charcoal grill or turn a gas grill to medium high.
• Place the bass on the grill and cook for about 8 minutes on each side, or until the fish flakes easy.