Wild Striped Bass En Papillote Recipes

STEAMED WILD STRIPED BASS WITH YELLOW PEPPER ROMESCO, RED PEPPER-BLACK OLIVE RELISH AND PARSLEY-GARLIC OIL

Steps:

• For the oil: Add the parsley and garlic to a blender and with the blender on, slowly stream in the oil until combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Let the oil sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
• For the relish: Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving.
• For the sauce: Heat the oil in a large saute pan over high heat until smoking. Separately saute the garlic, bell pepper, tomatoes, chiles and bread cubes until lightly browned, about 2 to 3 minutes each. Remove each ingredient with a slotted spoon as it is done. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar. Put all the sauteed ingredients and the deglazing liquid into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the almonds and process until finely chopped. Blend in the honey and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• For the fish: Set up a bamboo steamer basket over a large pot of water. Add the coriander seed, fennel seed, crushed garlic, orange juice and remainder of the squeezed flesh, the juice of the lemon and remainder of the squeezed flesh, the black peppercorns and splash of wine to the water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once the water is simmering, brush each fillet with canola oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Put the fish, skin side, down in the steamer basket over the simmering water, and steam until cooked through.
• Arrange the fish on serving plates with the Yellow Pepper Romesco Sauce on the side. Top the fish with heaping mounds of the Parsley Garlic Oil and Red Pepper-Black Olive Relish. Garnish with parsley leaves and serve.

SEARED WILD STRIPED BASS WITH SAUTEED SPRING VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice water and salt it well. Place the asparagus in the boiling water and cook until the water comes back to a rolling boil. Remove and place it immediately in the salted ice water. When the asparagus has cooled completely, remove it from the water and reserve. Repeat this process with the sugar snap peas and then the fava beans. You can use the same blanching water for all of the veggies, just be sure to always do the fava beans last. Fava beans have very high iron content and will turn the blanching water black. After the beans are blanched and cooled, remove the tough outer skin to reveal a lovely spring green fava bean.;
• Coat a large saute pan with olive oil. Smash the three garlic cloves with the heel of your hand and add to the saute pan. Bring the pan to a medium high heat. When the garlic has become golden brown and very aromatic remove it from the pan and discard it. It has fulfilled its garlic destiny. Add the mushrooms and stock, season generously with salt, and saute for 1 minute. Add the prepared veggies, season with salt and saute until all the ingredients are coated with oil and hot and almost all the stock has evaporated. Serve immediately or later at room temperature.;
• Take the fish out of the refrigerator about 10 to 15 minutes before using. Pat the skin dry with a paper towel and season the fish on both sides with salt. Heat a large saute pan coated generously with extra virgin olive oil over high heat. Coat the bottom of another slightly smaller saute pan with olive oil. Gently place the fish fillets skin side down in the saute pan and place the other saute pan directly on top of the fish. The purpose of this is to gently press the skin of the bass onto the bottom of the saute pan to create a lovely crispy fish skin. Be sure to oil the bottom of the top saute pan or the fish will stick to it. After a couple of minutes remove the top saute pan from the fish, this will allow the steam to escape and the skin to become very crispy. As fish cooks it turns from translucent to opaque. The idea is to cook the fish 2/3's of the way on the skin side and flip it over for the last 1/3 of the cooking time. The rule for fish is about 7 to 8 minutes per inch of thickness, a little less if you like your fish more on the rare side.
• Serve the fish over the sauteed spring veggies and call your self a superstar!

WILD STRIPED BASS WITH FAVAS AND COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Put a 4-quart pot of water to a boil and prepare an ice bath. Once boiling, add the shucked fava beans and blanch for 3 minutes. Drain and shock in an ice bath or rinse under cold water. When cool, peel the outside skin from the favas to reveal the brightly colored bean inside. Set aside.
• Bring the stock and 2 cups water to a boil in another 4-quart pot, and then reduce to a simmer. Add the couscous and saffron. Cook like pasta until the couscous is al dente, 6 to 8 minutes or according to your package instructions. Drain the couscous, reserving the broth and set both aside.
• Meanwhile, fill a medium bowl with water. Slice the leek in half lengthwise. Slice the leek halves into half-moons about 1/3-inch thick using only the white and light green parts. Put the slices into the bowl of water and rinse to clean the leeks, allowing any grit or sand to collect on the bottom of the bowl. Scoop the leeks out of the bowl of water and set aside.
• Preheat a 12- to 14-inch skillet over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Sprinkle both sides of the fish fillets generously with salt and pepper. Sear the fish, skin-side down, until the skin is crispy and the fish is about two-thirds cooked, 6 to 8 minutes. Flip the fish and finish cooking on the flesh side for about 3 minutes.
• Meanwhile, reheat the saffron broth to a simmer. Heat the remaining olive oil in a small saute pan and saute the leeks until soft, 2 minutes. Add the favas and a pinch salt and cook until warmed through. Add the tomatoes and remove from the heat.
• To serve, spoon the couscous into the center of 4 shallow soup bowls. Top with the seared fish. Sprinkle the sauteed favas and leeks around and spoon the saffron broth over top of the vegetables.

PAPILLOTE OF STRIPED BASS WITH HERBS AND QUICK AIOLI

Steps:

• Arrange 2 shelves in the oven at a fair distance from each other. The foil-enveloped fish will need some room to puff and expand as it cooks. Better to rearrange the oven racks while the oven is not yet hot. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Bake the potato until tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Spread about a 2-foot sheet of foil on a flat surface with 1/2 of it hanging off the counter in front of you. Put the fish, skin side down, horizontally, onto the foil near the end of the counter leaving about 1 1/2-inches of foil on both sides. Season the flesh side of the fish with salt and pepper, to taste, and sprinkle with some dill, parsley and a few lemon slices. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons oil on top of the fish. Fold the foil back over the fish and fold in the sides of the foil twice. Leaving some air in the package, roll the top of the foil down twice gathering the top to make a window , leaving about 6 to 8 inches between the fish and the top. It should look like a small package, with all the sides sealed. There should be enough room left around the fish to allow for the steam to build up as it cooks, creating an inflated envelope around the fish. Repeat with remaining 3 pieces of fish.
• Put the garlic cloves in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the garlic is finely chopped. Add the egg yolks and pulse to blend. When the potato is completely cooked and still warm, put it on a flat surface and split it open lengthwise. Use a tablespoon to scoop out the flesh, totaling about 3 to 4 tablespoons, and add it to the processor. Pulse to combine. With the processor running, slowly add the 1/2 cup of olive oil, through the opening at the top, in a steady stream. Add the sugar and the lime juice and pulse to incorporate. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• Using 2 baking sheets, put 2 of the foil envelopes on each sheet and add a little water to the bottom of the sheet pan. This water will create additional steam in the oven as the fish cooks. Put the baking sheets on 2 shelves of the oven and bake, undisturbed, until the envelopes begin to puff, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately transfer to 4 dinner plates. To serve, break open the foil and drizzle with the aioli.

ROASTED WILD STRIPED BASS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove stalks from fennel bulbs; reserve bulbs for another use. Remove feathery fronds from stalks; and reserve for garnish. Using a sharp knife, halve stalks lengthwise. Arrange stalks in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch roasting pan; pour wine over stalks. Lay fish fillets on top; drizzle with oil, and season with salt and pepper.
• Cover pan tightly with foil. Bake until fish is just cooked through and opaque throughout, 20 to 25 minutes. Divide fish among serving plates, discarding fennel stalks. Garnish with reserved fennel fronds.