Nothing Fishy Here!

My poor little blog!  I need to stop vacationing because you get abandoned.

Here is the truth: like I said in my last blog entry, cooking at our beach house sucked.  Lack of supplies and space were two of the biggest issues, but there were plenty more, including a heat wave and the fact that a gas stove throws off a ridiculous amount of heat.  Anyway, besides the stuffed shells, I really only made one other meal, but it was a pretty good one.

Rachael helping to sear the fish

It was really my first fish experience.  I had made foil-wrapped fish with Mark before, but he did most of the fishy work on that one.  I prefer to cook meatless, but considering my cousins were slowly but surely emptying out the Atlantic of every striped bass, I knew I had to put some of the fish to use!  I like to eat fish, and touching raw fish is significantly less repulsive than raw chicken, so it was time for me to make something fishy for dinner!  A quick spin on Pinterest found me a recipe made my someone who is a culinary instructor.  She said that this is always one of her most popular recipes in her fish class, so I was hooked... pun intended.

This dish is actually pretty easy to make.  You just season the fish with salt and pepper, sear it, then bake it.  When it comes out, rub it with a gremolata, garnish with orange slices, and voila!  Dinner.  The recipe called for fish with the skin still on, which freaks me out, so ours were skinless.  Also I tripled the recipe to ensure that we had enough for the 12 people in the house.  The part that took the longest was honestly sectioning the oranges.  I'd always wondered how they do that and get rid of the membraney stuff.  I now know how, and after doing 9 oranges, I'd say I am an expert.  The oranges get marinated in a little balsamic (I recommend not tripling the balsamic if you triple the recipe; it tasted perfect).  Then there is the gremolata, which is kind of like a salsa but made with garlic, parsely, cilantro, and orange zest.  Rubbed over the fish after it's baked, it creates the most delicious, clean, crisp flavors! 

gremolata! Mmmmm

This meal was a huge hit.  I was nervous because I know that the Cormiers eat fish a lot since they catch so many, and they all love it fried.  But luckily everyone loved this dinner!  Betsy and my mom kept telling me how great it was, and you know how hard Mom is to impress.  I am happy that my real first fish experience was a good one.  Since the Cormiers did catch six more fish yesterday, maybe this dinner will be appearing again soon!

Recipe:
striped bass with orange gremolata