Striped Bass In Grape Leaves Food

BANANA LEAF WRAPPED BASS WITH SCALLION-GINGER FRIED RICE

Steps:

• Add water to a medium pot, fitted with a steamer insert, and bring to a boil.
• Coat a large wok heavily with 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil and heat until the oil is almost smoking. Meanwhile, season the eggs with salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the heated oil and stir vigorously until puffed and cooked through, about 2 minutes. Remove from the wok and set aside in a bowl. To the same wok, add another 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil and heat until hot, then add the garlic, 2 tablespoons scallions and 1 tablespoon ginger and saute for 1 minute. Add the rice and eggs back in, mixing gently. Season with the tamari and sesame oil. Mix well to combine. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
• Lay a banana leaf on your work surface. Place about 1/4 cup cooled rice in the middle. Sprinkle a piece of fish on both sides with salt and pepper and place on top of the rice. Top with a few Thai basil sprigs. Fold the banana leaf and wrap tightly, similar to wrapping a sandwich in foil or plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining fish. Carefully place each piece of wrapped fish in a steamer insert, seam-side down. Add the tea leaves to the simmering water and set the filled steamer insert over the water and cover. Steam until the fish is cooked through, about 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, when is the fish has about 3 minutes left, heat the olive oil in a small saucepan.
• Cut the fish packets open with scissors, then top each pieces of fish with the remaining 2 tablespoons scallions and tablespoon ginger. Spoon the hot olive oil over the top of each piece of fish and serve.

STRIPED BASS WITH FRESH FIGS

Steps:

• Place 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add figs and continue to sauté another minute or two, until they are warmed through and just start to soften. Sprinkle with cloves. Add saba and continue cooking until the syrup just coats the bottom of the pan. Stir in wine. Remove figs and as many shallots as you can from the pan, draining well.
• Increase heat to medium-high and cook sauce until wine has reduced by half. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter bit by bit, swirling it in. Cook a minute or so more, until sauce starts to become syrupy. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
• Heat a broiler. Place rack about 4 inches from the source of heat. Dry fish. Dust skin side of bass or bottom side of halibut with flour. Flip fillet and season top surface well with salt and pepper. Heat remaining butter on medium-high in a large, heavy skillet, preferably cast iron. Place fish, floured side down, in skillet and sear 2 minutes. Brush top surface of fish with some of the sauce and place fish under the broiler. Broil about 7 minutes, until just cooked through. Remove from heat. Transfer fish to a warm platter.
• Return figs and shallots to the sauce, heat on medium a minute or so, then spoon sauce with figs around the fish on the platter. Serve.

LAMB-STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

Steps:

• Wash and soak the rice in hot water for 30 minutes.
• Place the rice, lamb, beef, coriander, garlic, lemon salt, olive oil, allspice, cinnamon and 2 tablespoons salt in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly by hand.
• Place a grape leaf on a cutting board. Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of the leaf. Fold over the sides and roll tightly from bottom to top. Repeat with the remaining leaves and filling.
• Place the tomatoes evenly in the bottom of a stockpot. Place the rolled leaves in the pot, pointing towards the center of pot. Place a small plate with a weight on top of the grape leaves to hold them in place. Add 1 cup water to the pot and heat over medium heat. Cook for 45 minutes.
• Serve the stuffed grape leaves with lemon wedges.

STRIPED BASS IN GRAPE LEAVES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Blanch grape leaves in boiling water with half the lemon juice. Remove and drain.
• Place the couscous in a bowl, and pour 1 cup boiling water over it. Set aside, covered, for about 5 minutes. Stir the grains, breaking up any lumps with your fingers.
• Meanwhile, char the peppers over a barbecue grill or under a broiler. When they are warm enough to handle, run under cold water, and remove the blackened skin with a paring knife. Halve, and scrape out seeds. Cut each pepper half into 2 large triangles.
• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and garlic in a saute pan over medium flame. Place the peppers, skin side down, in the pan, and cook gently for 15 minutes, or until tender.
• Add to the couscous bowl the lemon zest, cilantro, mint, parsley, scallions, orange zest, 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt to taste.
• Arrange the grape leaves, vein side up, in 1 layer, overlapping slightly to form a single sheet large enough to encase the fish. Spoon the couscous down the center of the grape leaves. Salt and pepper the fillet. Lay the fillet, skin side up, over the couscous. Gently encase the fillet and couscous with the grape leaves.
• Brush 2 tablespoons of olive oil over a roasting pan large enough to hold the fish. Gently turn fish over, and place in the pan. Pour the wine over the fish, and add the 2 bay leaves to the pan. Cover with foil. Cook for 15 minutes, and baste under the foil with pan liquids. Remove foil, and cook another 10 minutes.
• While fish is baking, make vinaigrette by combining in a bowl the shallots, olives, vinegar, rosemary, orange juice and remaining lemon juice. Whisk in 1/2 cup olive oil. Season to taste.
• Remove fish to a platter. Let rest for 5 minutes. To serve, cut 8 portions crosswise with a sharp knife. Arrange each portion in the center of a plate. Garnish with pepper triangles. Spoon vinaigrette over, and crumble some feta cheese over the top.

GRILLED FETA WRAPPED IN GRAPE LEAVES

Steps:

• Whisk the olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, za'atar and Aleppo pepper in a shallow bowl or small baking dish. Add the feta and spoon the oil over the top. Set aside to marinate 1 hour.
• While the cheese marinates, place the grape leaves in a bowl of room-temperature water and let soak.
• Line a small baking sheet with paper towels. Drain the grape leaves and lay in a single layer on the towels; pat very dry. On a clean surface, overlap the grape leaves slightly to form a square. Place the block of feta in the center (reserve the flavored oil), then fold the grape leaves to cover the cheese like a present.
• Preheat a grill to medium high and prepare for indirect grilling: On a charcoal grill, bank the coals to one side; on a gas grill, turn off half the burners. Toast the pita over direct heat, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Brush the outside of the wrapped feta with some of the reserved oil and place on the cooler side of the grill (indirect heat). Cook until the grape leaves are crisp and slightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and move to direct heat; grill until lightly charred on the second side and the cheese is warmed through, about 3 more minutes. Transfer to a board or platter and serve with the pita, olives, walnuts and/or apricots, plus any remaining flavored oil.

STUFFED GRAPEVINE LEAVES

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over low heat, heat 1/4 cup oil. Add onions, scallions and salt, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook about 2 minutes more. Add rice and another 1/4 cup olive oil and stir to combine. Add raisins, pine nuts, mint, dill and parsley. Add 1 cup boiling water and simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add juice of 1 lemon.
• Separate grapevine leaves and rinse under water to remove brine. Drain. Remove thick stems with a sharp knife. Place 1 tablespoon filling on underside of leaf, which should be facing up on your work surface. Starting at the base, roll over, fold in sides and continue to roll tightly toward the leaf point.
• Line a medium saucepan with a few heavy grapevine leaves. Place bed of parsley stalks over leaves. Arrange stuffed grape leaves, seam side down, in layers. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and remaining lemon juice. Weigh grape leaves down with heavy plate. Add boiling water so that it covers stuffed leaves. Bring water back to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cover saucepan. Simmer slowly for about an hour, until rice is tender. Simmer longer if necessary. Allow to cool to room temperature, remove from water mixture and chill. Serve cold with additional lemon wedges for sprinkling on at service.

LEBANESE STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the ground beef, rice, garlic powder, allspice, salt, pepper, and cinnamon, and set aside.
• Rinse grape leaves several times. If the leaves are small, leave them intact, but cut out the large center vein. If the leaves are large, cut them in half vertically, cutting out the large vein in the process. Place a small amount of the ground meat mixture at the end of each leaf. Roll up egg-roll style.
• Pour the oil into the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Lay the chops over the oil. Lay the tomato slices over the chops.
• Place the stuffed grape leaves seam-side down on top of the chops. Pack the leaves tightly and begin a second layer when necessary. Place whole garlic cloves randomly between the rolled leaves; plenty of garlic on each layer.
• When you are done stacking, pour the lemon juice over the leaves, and add water to the pot to about 2-inches above the rolled leaves. To prevent the leaves from unrolling during cooking, place a plate on top of the stack of leaves and place a heavy object on top of the plate.
• Simmer the leaves over low heat for about 2 hours.
• Invert the entire Dutch oven into a large platter with high sides (i.e. a 12-inch round cake pan). Or, remove the leaves from the pot with tongs. Serve rustic style, with plenty of Arabic bread on which to spread the garlic!

GRAPE LEAVES

Steps:

• Mix the ground beef and ground pork. Add the rice, dill, both onions, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and then mix.
• Make a puree by first melting some butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Then add enough olive oil and tomato puree until the sauce is orange-red in color. Stir over medium heat but do not boil. Add enough of the puree to the meat so that it is moist but not soupy. Let cool, about 20 minutes.
• Cover the bottom of a large saucepan with a layer of grape leaves. De-stem the remaining leaves and place vein-side up on your work surface. Place about 3 ounces of meat filling on each leaf and roll them up. Once you have rolled all your grape leaves, stack them in a circular pattern in the pan. Add a little lemon juice, some olive oil and enough water to just cover the top of your last stack. Cover and let simmer for about an hour.

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.

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.