Striped Bass In Grape Leaves Recipes

OUR NEW FAVORITE STRIPED BASS RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F with a rack in the center.
• Into a large, heavy pan with a lid (such as this one or this one), place the shallots, bell pepper, tomatoes, garlic, capers, wine, stock, thyme, half the salt, and half the pepper. Give it a stir.
• Bake, covered, for 20 minutes.
• Pat striped bass fillets dry with paper towels.
• Carefully remove pan from oven and arrange filets in pan on top of sauce, nestling them in a bit. Sprinkle fish with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and dot with butter.
• Return pan to oven, uncovered. Bake until fish is just cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes depending on thickness. Sprinkle with the basil.
• To serve, place about a cup of orzo into each of four wide, shallow bowls and top each with a piece of fish. Spoon some veggies and plenty of sauce overtop.

STRIPED BASS WITH FRESH FIGS

Steps:

• Place 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add figs and continue to sauté another minute or two, until they are warmed through and just start to soften. Sprinkle with cloves. Add saba and continue cooking until the syrup just coats the bottom of the pan. Stir in wine. Remove figs and as many shallots as you can from the pan, draining well.
• Increase heat to medium-high and cook sauce until wine has reduced by half. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter bit by bit, swirling it in. Cook a minute or so more, until sauce starts to become syrupy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
• Heat a broiler. Place rack about 4 inches from the source of heat. Dry fish. Dust skin side of bass or bottom side of halibut with flour. Flip fillet and season top surface well with salt and pepper. Heat remaining butter on medium-high in a large, heavy skillet, preferably cast iron. Place fish, floured side down, in skillet and sear 2 minutes. Brush top surface of fish with some of the sauce and place fish under the broiler. Broil about 7 minutes, until just cooked through. Remove from heat. Transfer fish to a warm platter.
• Return figs and shallots to the sauce, heat on medium a minute or so, then spoon sauce with figs around the fish on the platter. Serve.

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 IN GRAPE LEAVES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Blanch grape leaves in boiling water with half the lemon juice. Remove and drain.
• Place the couscous in a bowl, and pour 1 cup boiling water over it. Set aside, covered, for about 5 minutes. Stir the grains, breaking up any lumps with your fingers.
• Meanwhile, char the peppers over a barbecue grill or under a broiler. When they are warm enough to handle, run under cold water, and remove the blackened skin with a paring knife. Halve, and scrape out seeds. Cut each pepper half into 2 large triangles.
• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and garlic in a saute pan over medium flame. Place the peppers, skin side down, in the pan, and cook gently for 15 minutes, or until tender.
• Add to the couscous bowl the lemon zest, cilantro, mint, parsley, scallions, orange zest, 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt to taste.
• Arrange the grape leaves, vein side up, in 1 layer, overlapping slightly to form a single sheet large enough to encase the fish. Spoon the couscous down the center of the grape leaves. Salt and pepper the fillet. Lay the fillet, skin side up, over the couscous. Gently encase the fillet and couscous with the grape leaves.
• Brush 2 tablespoons of olive oil over a roasting pan large enough to hold the fish. Gently turn fish over, and place in the pan. Pour the wine over the fish, and add the 2 bay leaves to the pan. Cover with foil. Cook for 15 minutes, and baste under the foil with pan liquids. Remove foil, and cook another 10 minutes.
• While fish is baking, make vinaigrette by combining in a bowl the shallots, olives, vinegar, rosemary, orange juice and remaining lemon juice. Whisk in 1/2 cup olive oil. Season to taste.
• Remove fish to a platter. Let rest for 5 minutes. To serve, cut 8 portions crosswise with a sharp knife. Arrange each portion in the center of a plate. Garnish with pepper triangles. Spoon vinaigrette over, and crumble some feta cheese over the top.