A while back, we got a Groupon for the Clean Catch Fish Market in Charlotte and finally bought some fish with it.  We took home arctic char and black bass.



I'm not sure that I've ever made bass, so I didn't know how most people cooked it.  After a short recipe search, I landed on today's recipe, brought us from Anne Burrell from her Food Network Show, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef.  It's a fairly simple recipe that really cooks the fish well (by pan searing it) and gives you a really good meal that would be a good fancy-dinner-at-home meal in something like 15 minutes.


The only thing I'd do differently is that I might try to either season the fish better next time, or add some other flavor element to the fish itself- maybe a sauce or drizzle with the grapefruit juice.  The fish was cooked well- moist, flaky and tender- but it was a little on the bland side.  On a positive note with that, if you don't like strong fish, this is an ideal choice.

Seared Black Bass with Bitter Greens, Grapefruit, and Feta Salad
from Anne Burrell

recipe is written to feed four people.

Extra-virgin olive oil
Four 6-ounce black bass fillets
Kosher salt
5 to 6 cups bitter greens, such as arugula, dandelion, escarole, radicchio, endive or frisee
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 ruby red grapefruit, juiced
1/4 cup pitted gaeta or kalamata olives, slivered
2 ruby red grapefruits, supremed
3/4 cup crumbled feta

Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Coat the bottom of another smaller saute pan with olive oil. Sprinkle the fish with salt on both sides. When the large saute pan is screaming hot but not quite smoking, lay the fish fillets in the pan, skin-side down. Do not crowd the pan, you may have to work in batches. After you put the fish in the pan, place the other small saute pan directly on top of the fish fillets. This applies gentle pressure to the fish and forces the skin to have contact with the pan and will create crispy skin. Cook the fish for 3 to 4 minutes and then remove the top pan. Shake the pan a little to unstick the fish. Use a fish spatula and flip the fish fillets and cook for 2 more minutes on the other side. Remove from the pan and serve or keep warm until the remaining fish is cooked.

In a large mixing bowl, dress the greens and red onions with olive oil and grapefruit juice and season with salt. Toss in the olive slivers and grapefruit supremes.

Divide the salad among 4 serving plates and sprinkle with feta. Lean a fish fillet on each salad. Serve immediately.

How to supreme any citrus- cut a bit off the top and bottom of the fruit, and sit it on a cutting surface.  With your knife, cut the peel off, cutting small sections straight down from the top.  Then, slice in between the membrane separating each slice of fruit to segment it.  Then you get a supremed citrus, or slices without peel/membranes.