And like many a devoted fisherman, I will cook a whole fish over and over again. What an amazing way to cook fish. Seriously, why anyone eats fish sticks is beyond me...now anyway. So about the meal. I cooked a striped bass on our kamado smoker. I put onions, and fennel inside the cavity, garlic cloves under the skin on both sides and salted him everywhere.Here is the before and after.
While that was outside cooking, I made an appetizer. Sticking with the "whole fish" theme, I got some fresh smelts from the fish market and fried them up (just egg, flour and hot oil).
I served it along side one of my favorite appetizers, fried sage leaves with provolone cheese. It is a really tasty combination, try it sometime. I made a spicy aioli for dipping the fried smelts (mayo, paprika, lemon juice, cayanne and garlic). Easy as could be to make -- and really worked with the fish.
And then the whole fish. I was hunkering for something warm and a little spicy, so I recreated the fish soup. Wasn't exactly the same and frankly didn't have the warm, spiciness from the night before. It was still good and included mussels, clams, shrimp and scallops. To serve, I placed a piece of the striped bass atop a piece of toast with garlic, and then spooned over the soup and seafood. The presentation was great to look at. But better yet was how "active" the dish was. Lots to explore in the bowl, and all the different flavors of the fish really made for fun eating and talking around the table. The recipe is not exact, but here are the ingredients. Just put them all together basically and then when the taste is right, start throwing in the shellfish.
Ingredients: Olive oil Leeks (white part only) Onion Garlic crushed Peeled and seeded tomatoes ( I used canned, the big one) Serano pepper, chopped Fresh flat leaf parsley Fennel fronds Pinch of saffron salt/pepper Water (about 6 cups for 6 people) Oh and a hardy splash of white wine
And here it is (my pic is a little blurry), must have been the white wine...
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