Fantastic Rockfish recipe....

[870barks]

In trying to expand my horizon a little with respect to preparing rockfish, I tried this recipe a couple times and I have to say it is now my favorite. I've had rockfish every way you can imagine, and in my opinion, this method keeps all the flavors of the fish, its diet, and the bay in the meat. It's not as difficult as it looks and in my experience, 20-24" fish (False Channel size ) work best. You will be shocked at how much meat there is on a 22" rockfish when you cook it whole. Also, when you've finished and gotten all the meat off, throw all the bones, the head, the veggies, along with some carrots, onion, celery, herbs, and white wine in a pot with 2-3 quarts of water. Simmer for 45 minutes to make fish stock. Freeze it and use it to make fish chowder this fall.


Striped Bass in Salt Dome Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Show: Good Eats - Food Network
Episode: Hook Line and Dinner

1 striped bass, 5 to 6 pounds, gills removed, fins trimmed
4 egg whites
1/2 cup water
2 (3 pound) boxes of kosher salt
1 handful parsley
1 fennel bulb, (with stem) quartered
Several sprigs thyme
1 lemon, sliced thin
1/2 orange, sliced thin
Olive oil

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cover the bottom of a baking sheet large enough to hold the fish with parchment paper.
Rinse fish inside and out with cold water and drain. Dry with paper towels. Stuff body cavity with herbs and citrus, saving a few lemon slices for garnish. Set aside.
Pour 1 box of salt into a large bowl, add egg whites and water, then the second box of salt. Use your hands to work mixture to a mortar-like consistency. Lay down a 1/2-inch thick bed for the fish to lay on with a 1-inch clearance on all sides. Lay the fish on this bed and pile the remainder of the salt mortar on top. Work into a smooth dome completely encasing the fish. (Don't worry if the head or tail poke out a little.)
Cook approximately 35 minutes. Check for doneness by pushing the probe of an instant read thermometer through the salt into the fish. When temperature reaches 130 degrees, remove from oven, and rest at room temperature for 5 minutes. Open the fish at the table by hitting the dome several times with a small hammer and lifting off the slabs of salt. Brush away any stray salt. Gently pull out dorsal (back) fin. Using a fish knife or serrated pie server, make a single incision all the way down the back of the fish and around the gill plate. Then lift the skin off working from the head to the tail. Remove meat from top side of fish, going down one side of the spine then the other. Grasp the tail and remove the skeleton, (it should come up intact). The meat revealed below will slide right off the skin.
Sprinkle meat with a little virgin oil and lemon juice. Serve immediately.

[H. J.]

Thanks for the recipe. They did something similar on the "Guide House" show (reality-show on ESPN 2 about a handful of guides that share a house in Montauk. They did theirs over/in a fire pit, but the fish was encrusted in a salt shell also.

[fish stories]

Thanks, Barks, I'm going [to get my better half] to try this one!

I rarely ever do the filleting - too much waste for my taste - so this is right up my alley...

I'll try to remember to tell ya how it works out, too...

Joe