Renato along with a few family members and friends recently had a male-bonding fishing trip. He left the house at 2:30am, was on the boat in Groton, CT by 4:30am and he was home by 1pm with fresh striped bass aka striper, not to be confused with Stryper, already cleaned and ready for cooking.
He also came home with four bluefish fillets. We don’t do bluefish. It’s super oily, which makes it super fishy. The fillets are currently taking up much-needed space in my freezer. I will gladly give them free to a good home. I have yet to find one. Seriously, we aren’t going to eat them. However, I also don’t like waste, so if anyone has any recipes that might make bluefish palatable and not stink up my entire house during the cooking process I am all ears.
But, back to those delightful pieces of striped bass. When fish is that fresh, you don’t need to do much to it. I venture to say if you just put the fish right on the grill without any seasoning at all it would still taste delicious. Of course a few aromatics and a little white wine and you’ve just upped the ante on the deliciousness.
If you don’t have striper, you can substitute it with any other firm, white-flesh fish like black sea bass, trout, or grouper. The firm texture of any of these fish holds up well on the grill.
Since the fish was the star of the meal, I served it with just a simple green salad and, of course, a crisp local IPA. It may be the end of August, but this grilled striper recipe helps keep the flavors of summer alive.
Ingredients
- 1, 1lb. 4oz. striped bass fillet
- 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh chives, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
- 4 Tablespoons white wine
- 4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
- salt and black pepper, to taste
Directions
- In a bowl stir together the minced parsley, chives and thyme, white wine, olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice.
- Place the striper fillet in a large rimmed dish. Pour 2/3 of the marinade over the fillet. Cover and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Reserve the remaining 1/3 of the marinade to use later.
- Heat the grill to medium heat. Season the marinated fillet with salt and pepper.
- Cook the fillet skin side down for about 4 minutes. Flip and continue cooking for another 4 to 6 minutes.
- Place the whole fillet on a large platter, pour on the reserved marinade and serve immediately.
Place fresh bluefish filets skin side down on lightly oiled silpat-lined sheet pan. Place thinly sliced fresh tomato on top of fish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic. Roast at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Serve with lemon. (Crumbled blue cheese can be substituted for the bread crumbs if you like it.)