Salt Baked Striped Bass Food

SALT-BAKED STRIPED BASS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together salt, whites, and water in a bowl. Season inside of fish with pepper, and stuff with half the ginger and lemongrass. Season outside of fish with pepper. Place remaining ginger and lemongrass on top of fish. Scatter one-quarter of salt mixture on the bottom of an oval baking dish or a baking sheet to form a bed for the fish. Lay fish on top of salt, and pat remaining salt mixture tightly over top to cover entire surface, including head, leaving tail exposed.
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Crack open salt crust using a spoon, exposing the fish. Transfer to a serving plate, and serve with lime wedges.

SALT-ROASTED BASS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat egg whites by hand or with the whisk attachment of a stand mixer until soft peaks form. Use a rubber spatula to fold in salt until combined.
• Season inside the fish with pepper and stuff with half of the lemon rounds and 3 sprigs thyme. Spread a 1/2-inch-thick layer of the salt mixture on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet to form a bed for the fish. Lay fish on top of salt. Season outside of fish with pepper. Place remaining lemon slices and thyme on top of fish. Pat remaining salt mixture over top to cover entire surface, including head, leaving tail exposed.
• Bake for about 35 minutes. Crack open salt crust using a fork or spoon, exposing the fish. Transfer to a serving plate.

STRIPED BASS IN SALT DOME

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cover the bottom of a baking sheet large enough to hold the fish with parchment paper.
• Rinse fish inside and out with cold water and drain. Dry with paper towels. Stuff body cavity with herbs and citrus, saving a few lemon slices for garnish. Set aside.
• Pour 1 box of salt into a large bowl, add egg whites and water, then the second box of salt. Use your hands to work mixture to a mortar-like consistency. Lay down a 1/2-inch thick bed for the fish to lay on with a 1-inch clearance on all sides. Lay the fish on this bed and pile the remainder of the salt mortar on top. Work into a smooth dome completely encasing the fish. (Don't worry if the head or tail poke out a little.)
• Cook approximately 35 minutes. Check for doneness by pushing the probe of an instant read thermometer through the salt into the fish. When temperature reaches 130 degrees, remove from oven, and rest at room temperature for 5 minutes. Open the fish at the table by hitting the dome several times with a small hammer and lifting off the slabs of salt. Brush away any stray salt. Gently pull out dorsal (back) fin. Using a fish knife or serrated pie server, make a single incision all the way down the back of the fish and around the gill plate. Then lift the skin off working from the head to the tail. Remove meat from top side of fish, going down one side of the spine then the other. Grasp the tail and remove the skeleton, (it should come up intact). The meat revealed below will slide right off the skin.
• Sprinkle meat with a little virgin oil and lemon juice. Serve immediately.

ROASTED WHOLE STRIPED BASS WITH SALMORIGLIO

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix the herbs with the garlic and olive oil. Add the lemon zest and juice and stir gently. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500°. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
• Rinse the fish and pat dry. Trim off the fins.
• Scatter the herb stems, bay leaves and garlic on the baking sheet.
• Place a row of lemon slices down the center of pan; reserve one slice. Place half of the onion slices over the lemon slices.
• Place the fish over the onions and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place the remaining onions on top of fish.
• Drizzle with olive oil and place the remaining slice of lemon on top of fish. Cover with foil and bake until the fish is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Serve the fish whole, with the salmoriglio sauce on the side.

SALT-BAKED FISH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Combine the sea salt and egg whites until the mixture looks like wet sand.
• Stuff the branzino with the rosemary, parsley, garlic and lemon slices, then pack the outside tightly with the salt mixture. Put the branzino on a baking sheet.
• Bake until the salt turns golden brown, about 15 minutes. Place on a serving dish.
• Bring the branzino to the table for a few oohs and aahs, crack open the salt with a knife handle, brush away the salt, fillet the fish and serve.

STRIPED BASS WITH POTATOES AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Use a little oil to brush the bottom of a shallow baking dish that can go to the table and is large enough to hold the fish in one piece. Spread potatoes in dish, overlapping, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven.
• Season flesh side of fish with salt and pepper. Place fish skin side up on the potatoes, sprinkle on remaining oil, scatter olives around and place bay leaves on top. Cover with parchment paper and bake 20 minutes, or until fish is just cooked through at the thickest part (a sharp knife will penetrate easily). Garnish with lemon and 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.

SALT-BAKED SEA BASS

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
• Mix the salt with the egg whites and put a thin layer in the bottom of a roasting tin.
• Place the fish on the salt and cover completely with the remaining salt.
• Cook for 20 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, Crack the salt crust with the back of a heavy knife and remove completely. Remove the flesh from the fish (it should fall off the bone) and serve.