A simple and tasty meal without much fuss.
Black sea bass are one of the best tasting fish we have in the Northeast. They’re a structure orientated fish so most wrecks and reefs are usually swarming with them. A diamond jig or cut clam bait worked along the bottom will do the trick. The males sport a beautiful teal blue color and are crowned with a protuberance on their head which gives them the nickname knotheads or humpbacks.
Sea bass can be caught through the summer so we pair it with one of the ultimate summer vegetables, corn. This is a very simple and tasty meal you can make without too much fuss. You can even find the herb we used to garnish the dish with, wood sorrel, right in your backyard. This recipe will accommodate up to 3 pounds of sea bass fillets.
Ingredients: Roasted Corn Veloute
5 ears of corn
2 shallots
1 clove garlic
2 cups cream (or non-dairy milk)
Directions:
Remove kernels from cob. Rough chop shallots and garlic. Hard roast the vegetables at high heat for about 5 minutes on the stove top with oil. Add cream and lower heat to medium for 5 minutes. Add to blender and blend on high for 5 to 7minutes. Pass the sauce through a fine mesh strainer to remove pulp from the corn kernels. This is a very important step for the quality and texture of the sauce. Season with salt.
Ingredients: Roasted Corn and Mitake Mushrooms
4 ears corn
2 packages or about half pound mitake mushrooms
1 clove garlic
2 thinly sliced Chives
butter
Sear corn and mitake mushrooms in a heavy bottom or cast iron pan at high heat in oil. Once mushrooms start to turn brown on all sides add in your chopped garlic and an inch thick cube of butter. Season with salt and pepper heavily, mushrooms absorb a lot of salt.
Sear the sea bass in oil on one side until it is cooked through. Only cooking the fish on one side and controlling the heat will give you a fine quality sear.
Ryan Lory and Mike O’Rourke, also known as the Salty Chefs, are passionate anglers that do catering, private dinners, parties and events.
