Baked sea bass

Apr 11 2008 by Bill Oldfield, The Journal

THIS is a lovely complete dish that can be eaten straight out of the foil parcel or served with new potatoes.

Here, sea bass is wrapped in individual loose foil parcels with fresh herbs and olives. After a period of baking where the parcel’s contents are, in fact, steamed, the heady smell that erupts when you open the parcel on your plate has to be experienced to be believed. Sea bass has a delicate flavour but is offset well against the strength of the olives.

For a variation, you could substitute the sea bass for mackerel or trout. Both are delicious alternatives and can be cooked in exactly the same way.

INGREDIENTS

Two whole sea bass – scaled and cleaned (ask the fishmonger to do it if you wish)

15g wild mushrooms – torn

One large sprig of fresh thyme

40g sun-dried tomatoes

60g softened butter

20g black olives – stones removed

Four slices of lemon

Two sprigs of parsley

Olive oil

Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (gas mark 6).

Place two pieces of double foil on the kitchen bench, making sure they’re big enough to loosely wrap the fish. Rub the foil with half the butter and place the fish on top.

Stuff the cavity of the fish with the thyme, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms. Smear the upper side of the fish with the remaining butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, place the lemons and parsley on top and drizzle with olive oil.

Fold the foil and crimp it tightly all around to make a well-sealed parcel but ensure that there is plenty of space within to allow steam to circulate.

Place the parcels on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. To serve, put the parcels on to serving plates but allow the diners to open the parcels themselves.

Recipes are taken from Oldfields Restaurants cookbook, Passion for Real Food. For discounted copies contact (0191) 370–9595.