Striped Bass With Cucumber Broth 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.

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.

GINGER-MISO STRIPED BASS IN SHIITAKE MUSHROOM BROTH

Steps:

• Whisk 2 cups water and 2 tablespoons red miso in medium saucepan. Add shiitake mushrooms and simmer over medium heat until mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in dark and pale green onion tops. Cover to keep warm and set aside.
• Meanwhile, mix 2 tablespoons red miso, minced white part of green onion, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, and minced fresh ginger in small bowl. Sprinkle striped bass fillets with salt and pepper. Spread ginger mixture over 1 side of bass fillets, pressing to adhere. Sprinkle panko over coated side of fillets; press to adhere.
• Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fillets to skillet, coated side down, and sauté until brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Turn fillets over and sauté until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Divide shiitake mushroom broth and shiitake mushrooms between 2 shallow bowls. Place 1 fish fillet in center of each bowl. Sprinkle chopped fresh cilantro over and serve.

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.

STRIPED BASS WITH YUZU KOSHO AND WILTED SPINACH

Steps:

• Place sake and mirin in a nonreactive saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until reduced by two thirds. Remove from heat and add yuzu kosho. Using an immersion blender, blend to combine. Cut 1 cup (2 sticks) butter into small cubes and add to saucepan. Using the immersion blender, blend to combine. Season with salt, zest of 1 yuzu, and a few drops of yuzu juice; keep warm and set aside.
• Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Season fish on both sides with Maldon sea salt and espelette pepper. When butter has melted, add fish to skillet, skin-side down; reduce heat to low and cook, basting with butter and olive oil from skillet, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and add thyme and one garlic clove to skillet; cook, continuing to baste, until fish is cooked through, about 3 minutes more. Remove fish from skillet and transfer to a small lightly oiled baking sheet; let stand in a warm place for 10 minutes. Preheat broiler.
• Wipe skillet clean with a clean paper towel. Add remaining tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil and heat over medium heat. Insert the tines of a fork into remaining clove of garlic and set aside. Add spinach to skillet and season with salt; cook, stirring with garlic clove attached to fork, until spinach is wilted.
• Transfer spinach to a paper-towel-lined plate. Gently reheat fish under a broiler until just heated through. Divide spinach evenly among 4 warmed plates and top each with a piece of fish.
• Strain sauce; using an immersion blender, briefly blend sauce to reincorporate. Spoon sauce around fish and top with yuzu zest, if using; serve immediately.

STRIPED BASS WITH LIME BROTH

Steps:

• Toast coriander, cardamom, and curry paste in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until spices are fragrant and curry paste begins to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Add cilantro stems, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer gently until flavors meld, 8-10 minutes.
• Strain broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a large heatproof measuring cup; discard solids. Let cool, then stir in lime juice; season with kosher salt and more lime juice, if desired.
• Meanwhile, using a sharp knife, cut all peel and white pith from grapefruit; discard. Working over a small bowl, cut between membranes to release segments into bowl; discard membranes. Repeat with lime.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Season fish with salt and pepper. Cook fillets, skin side down, 1 minute, then firmly press down with a fish spatula to ensure even browning and crispiness. Continue cooking until skin is golden brown and fish is mostly cooked through, about 4 minutes; carefully turn fish and sauté until just cooked through, about 1 minute longer.
• Divide lime broth and fish among shallow bowls. Scatter citrus segments, cilantro leaves, and mint and basil over; drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt.
• DO AHEAD: Broth can be made 1 day ahead (do not add lime juice). Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature and add lime juice just before serving.

ROASTED FISH WITH BROWN BUTTER CORN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Season fillets with salt and pepper and place in a baking pan, skin-side down.
• In a small bowl, mash together the butter, about two-thirds of the garlic, and the lemon zest if using. Smear on top of fish fillets. Roast until cooked through to taste, 7 to 12 minutes depending upon variety of fish and thickness of fillets.
• Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, purée half the brown buttered corn with broth or water, oil, lemon juice and remaining garlic. Stir in remaining corn. Serve sauce over fish, garnished with herbs.

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.

STRIPED BASS WITH CUCUMBER BROTH

Steps:

• Cut 1 cucumber into 1/2-inch-thick slices; set aside. Pass remaining cucumbers through a juicer; you should have about 3 cups juice. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whip cream to soft peaks. Stir in horseradish and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator until ready to use.
• Using a sharp knife, make shallow slits in skin side of fish. Heat oil in a large ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it is very hot. Season both sides of fish fillets with salt and pepper, and place in pan skin side down. Cook until skin is browned, about 5 minutes; turn, and saute until fish is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Transfer fish to warm shallow serving bowls.
• Add garlic and reserved cucumber slices to pan; cook over low heat until cucumber is soft and translucent. Add reserved cucumber juice and the thyme leaves; cook just until mixture is hot. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle cucumber broth and slices around fish; garnish with horseradish cream and thyme sprigs.