Wild Striped Bass With Favas And Couscous Recipes

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!

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.

Steps:

• In medium bowl combine vinegar and salt; whisk until salt is dissolved. Slowly whisk in olive oil, adding more if necessary, until mixture has emulsified. Fold in tomatoes and thyme, season with pepper; set aside
• In small food processor, puree green olives, garlic and oil. Remove and set aside. In medium pan cover potatoes with cold water, bring to a boil. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes until tender, drain well. Transfer to mixer bowl, process using paddle. While mixing, drizzle in oil mixture until smooth. Fold in nicoise olives, season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season with salt and pepper . In large saute pan, heat oil until smoking. Place fillets in pan, flesh side down, sear for 30 seconds. Remove pan from heat, place in oven, roasting fish until almost opaque, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from oven. Add butter to pan, turn fillets over, cooking skin side of fish on medium heat for 1 minute. Turn fish over again, remove from pan. Place on paper towel to drain. Place small amount of potatoes on warm serving plate. Place fillet on top, spoon vinaigrette over fish. Garnish with thyme or basil.

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.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large saute pan, heat olive oil until almost smoking. Season the fish, and place in the pan, skin side down, to sear. When the skin side is brown, turn the strips over. Add the sprigs to the pan and place in oven to finish cooking 5 more minutes.
• Meanwhile, arrange 1 large Garlic Potato Pancake just off center on each of 4 dishes. Drizzle the Pea Puree around the potato pancake decoratively. Drizzle the aged balsamic in a contrasting pattern.
• Take the fish from the oven and place 4 strips of fish leaning on the potato cake. Serve hot.
• Remove peas from their pods and rinse. In large quantity of salted, boiling water, cook until they loose their crunch. Place in blender and puree. Add ice and extra-virgin olive oil to assist in puree. Season and pass through fine strainer. Reserve in refrigerator until ready to use.
• Roast the potatoes in a 450 degree F oven until cooked, about 30 minutes. Remove skins and pass the potatoes through a food mill into a bowl. Add the chives, shallots and garlic and mix. Season the mixture, and add two egg whites whipped to soft peaks. Adjust consistency with flour. Form into 4 large pancakes, dredge in flour, and saute in olive oil until golden brown on both sides and heated through.

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients for the marinade in a non-reactive bowl. Take boneless fillet of wild striped bass and cut into 2 to 3 pieces. Rinse fillets and pat dry. Place pieces into the marinade. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the ingredients for the sauce and let reduce by 1/2 or until it reaches the desired thickness.
• In a heavy saute pan, heat canola oil to 340 degrees F.
• Remove the fish from the marinade. pat dry and season with salt and pepper. On a clean plate put flour and on another clean plate, put panko. Dredge fish fillets through flour, then egg, then panko, completely coating each fillet.
• Place the breaded fish carefully into the hot oil and cook until it achieves a light golden brown color. Remove with a spider or strainer and dry on paper towel.
• Serve fish on brown paper with the sauce in a small bowl for dipping.