Striped Bass In Agrodolce Sauce Recipes

BASS AGRODOLCE WITH SPAGHETTI SQUASH AND MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375. Make the agrodolce sauce: Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil, the rosemary, whole garlic cloves and pepper flakes in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the garlic is tender, 8 minutes. Set aside 1 tablespoon of the garlic oil. Add the vinegar and sugar to the pan; simmer over medium-low heat until syrupy and caramelized, 5 minutes.
• Halve the squash lengthwise and remove the seeds. Brush the cut sides with the reserved garlic oil and season with salt and pepper. Place cut-side up in a baking dish and roast until tender, 1 hour. Reduce the oven to 200. Hold the squash with a towel; using a fork, pull off flesh in strands and place in the baking dish. Season with salt and pepper, cover with foil and keep warm in the oven.
• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and cook, stirring, until browned, 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet; add the tomatoes and toss until they blister. Add 1 tablespoon of the agrodolce sauce and a splash of water; cover and cook until the tomatoes burst, 5 minutes. Return the mushrooms to the pan and warm through.
• Meanwhile, bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Season the fish with salt and pepper, then place in a bamboo or collapsible steamer over the water; cover and steam until almost cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep covered to finish cooking, 2 to 4 minutes.
• Place a fish fillet on each of 4 plates; add the squash, mushrooms and tomatoes. Drizzle with the agrodolce sauce. Serve with extra sauce and the caramelized garlic.

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.

STRIPED BASS ALL'AMATRICIANA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread olive oil in a baking dish just large enough to hold the fish in a single layer. Season the flesh side of the fish with salt and pepper, and set aside on a plate or cutting board.
• In a heavy saucepan, heat the guanciale on medium low, stirring occasionally, until the fat is rendered and the cracklings are golden. Add the onion and cook until onion is soft and barely colored. Stir in garlic and continue cooking until it softens. Add tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer gently about 15 minutes, until tomatoes have come together and reduced a bit. Stir in chile flakes and remove from heat.
• Heat baking dish in the oven and when the oil is hot, remove it from the oven. Place fish, skin side down, in the dish. Spread the tomato mixture on the fish. Return dish to oven and bake 15 to 20 minutes, until the fish just turns opaque and is cooked through. Serve at once or set aside at room temperature to serve in 30 minutes or so. Scatter basil on top just before serving.

STRIPED BASS IN AGRODOLCE SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat 1/4 cup oil in a 12- to 13-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté shallots, stirring occasionally, until browned and just tender, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and add wine, vinegar, water, sugar, raisins, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and bay leaf, then briskly simmer, stirring occasionally, until shallots are very tender and liquid is thick and syrupy, 40 to 45 minutes. (If liquid is reduced before shallots are tender, add 1/2 cup water and continue to simmer.)
• Pat fish dry, then sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Fold fillets in half, skinned side in.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté 4 folded fillets, turning over once, until deep golden, 4 to 6 minutes total. Put cooked fish (still folded) on top of sauce in heavy skillet. Wipe out nonstick skillet and sauté remaining 4 fillets in remaining 2 tablespoons oil in same manner, transferring to sauce.
• Cook, partially covered, over moderate heat until fish is just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes.