Striped Basstrami Food

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.