Striped Bass Plaki Recipes

STRIPED BASS PLAKI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Rinse fish well under cool running water. Thoroughly pat dry. Lightly coat the bottom of a large roasting pan with olive oil; place fish in center. Generously season fish with salt and pepper; sprinkle a large pinch of oregano inside cavity and outside. Stuff cavity with half of the lemon slices, 4 sprigs thyme, 4 sprigs rosemary, bay leaves, and 3 garlic cloves.
• Cover fish with overlapping slices of red onion; top with remaining lemon slices. Scatter tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, sweet onion, olives, remaining 2 sprigs thyme, remaining 2 sprigs rosemary, and remaining 13 garlic cloves around fish. Sprinkle vegetables with assorted herb mixture and capers.
• Generously season fish with salt, pepper, and remaining oregano. Add wine to roasting pan and cover with parchment paper-lined foil, pressing edges well to seal. Transfer to oven and cook, until fish is flakey and cooked through and vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes.
• Carefully transfer fish to a large serving platter, along with vegetables, discarding herb sprigs, if desired. Whisk garlic puree or butter into pan juices until melted; drizzle over and around fish. Squeeze fish with lemon wedges; serve immediately.

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.

ROASTED STRIPED BASS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat the oil in a medium saute pan and saute the onion and pancetta over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the tomatoes, saffron, salt, pepper, white wine, and Pernod, if using, and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, lay the fish in a 10-by-14-inch baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp and mussels to the dish. Pour the sauce over the seafood and bake uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes, until the fish and shrimp are cooked through and the mussels are open. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

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.

GARLIC PUREE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix together canola and olive oil; set aside.
• Place garlic cloves in an ovenproof heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch-oven with a lid. Add bay leaf, a scant tablespoon salt, and peppercorns. Add enough of the oil mixture to barely cover.
• Cover pan and transfer to oven. Cook until garlic is pale golden and very tender, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer garlic cloves to a cutting board or the bowl of a small food processor, reserving oil; finely chop or process until pureed. Transfer to a bowl and add just enough reserved oil to cover. Keep refrigerated, up to 3 days.

GREEK BAKED FISH WITH TOMATOES AND ONIONS

Steps:

• Pat the fish dry and season to taste with salt and pepper. Oil one or two baking dishes large enough to accommodate the fish in one layer. Lay the fish in the dish and pour on the lemon juice. Refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the onions. Cook, stirring often, until they have softened and begun to color slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, paprika, cinnamon, dissolved tomato paste, wine, half the parsley and more salt and pepper to taste and bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered, stirring often, until the sauce has cooked down a bit and is very fragrant, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour over the fish. Sprinkle on the remaining parsley.
• Place in the oven and bake until the fish is opaque and pulls apart easily with a fork, about 30 minutes. Baste the fish every 10 minutes if it is not submerged in the sauce. Serve hot or warm, with rice, bulgur, or potatoes.