Striped Bass En Escabeche Recipes

STRIPED BASS WITH CAVIAR AND LEMON ZEST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place onions, cut side up, on baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until onions collapse. Remove from oven when done. Wrap individual portions of fish in plastic wrap. Put water in a pan, enough to cover fish, and bring to 160 degrees. Place fish in water and poach until done, about 15 minutes. For caviar sauce, bring 2 tablespoons water to boil in small saucepan. At boil, add butter in small amounts, whisking continuously. Continue to add butter in small portions until all has been added. Whisk until sauce is creamy. Remove from heat. Add lemon zest and caviar, gently fold in, being careful not to break caviar eggs. Place red onion in center of plate. Place unwrapped fish on onion. Spoon caviar butter over top of fish. Garnish with chive points.;

STRIPED BASS ESCABèCHE WITH BELL PEPPERS AND GREEN BEANS

Steps:

• Make marinade:
• In a bowl combine marinade ingredients, stirring until brown sugar is dissolved.
• To marinade add olives, bell peppers, and onion. Season fish with salt and pepper and in a bowl toss with flour to coat, shaking off excess. Line a shallow baking pan with paper towels. In a large heavy skillet heat 3 tablespoons oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté fish, 6 pieces at a time, turning once and adding remaining tablespoon oil to skillet as necessary, until golden on both sides and just cooked through, about 6 minutes. Transfer fish as sautéed to paper-towel-lined pan to drain.
• Transfer fish to a 13- by 9-inch shallow baking dish and pour marinade mixture over fish, spreading vegetables in one layer. Marinate fish, covered and chilled, at least 1 day and up to 3.
• In a large saucepan of boiling salted water cook beans 3 minutes, or until crisp-tender, and drain in a colander. Refresh beans under cold water and drain. Beans may be cooked 2 days ahead and chilled in a sealable plastic bag.
• Remove fish from marinade mixture and add beans to dish, tossing to coat. Transfer mixture to a large deep platter and arrange fish on top.

STEAMED STRIPED BASS

Steps:

• Stir ginger, orange zest and juice, coriander, oil, soy sauce, wine, and scallions in a medium bowl. Season with pepper. Add fish and mushrooms; turn to coat completely. Marinate 10 minutes.
• Fill 2 woks or large pots with about 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil. Brush bottom baskets of two 6-inch, 2-tiered round bamboo steamers with oil. Place 1 fillet and 3 mushrooms in a single layer in each bottom basket; place half the edamame in each top. Cover baskets; carefully set into boiling water. Steam until fish is just cooked through, 10 to 14 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure water doesn't completely evaporate. Sprinkle edamame with salt. Serve in baskets.

STRIPED BASS WITH HORSERADISH SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler and adjust the rack so that it is within four inches of the heat source. Oil the surface of the broiling pan and place the fillets on top, skin side down. Sprinkle with salt and cayenne and broil until firm and lightly browned, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on thickness. (The fish is done when it is just about opaque all the way through, and offers no resistance to a thin-bladed knife.)
• Meanwhile, gently warm the sour cream over very low heat in a small pan, stirring occasionally. While it is heating, add some salt and cayenne. The sour cream need not get hot and it should certainly not boil; you just want to take the edge off its chill and thin it out a bit. Keep it warm while the fish finishes cooking.
• When the fish is done, stir the horseradish and snipped chives into the sour cream. Taste and add more horseradish, salt or cayenne if necessary. Serve the fillets with a bit of the sauce on each, garnished with a couple of chives.

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.