12 Minute Recipe: Buttered Fish in White Wine with Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Buttered Fish in White Wine with Cranberry Sauce

I originally posted this recipe in 2013, and it is a family favorite.  Yesterday, I served it to a last-minute house guest who made 2 major comments: it was delicious and he’d “have to remember this recipe” himself, and that he would never have thought to pair a cranberry sauce with fish.  It definitely has a Norwegian taste combination that is a sure hit with family and guests alike!  If you’ve not made this one, plan it for a busy day this week when you know you won’t have time for more than a…12 minute meal!

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Recipe for Striped Bass or Rockfish

Recipe for Striped Bass

A day out angling in the Chesapeake, the kind of phone call you have always wanted to get

 

Fried striped bass

 

While passing through DC recently for business, I get a phone call from an old Army buddy who wanted to know if I was interested in going angling in the Chesapeake for striped bass or rockfish.  It was the kind of phone call you always want to get, but let’s face it, how often does that really happen? 

 

Wilson holding the Striped Bass

 

Early on a Saturday with the last few of those precious sunny, clear, t-shirt days left in the fall we set out on a charter fishing trip for stripped bass or rockfish.  Not being from the Chesapeake area, I have to say that I never ate this fish before—but you know what they say about the worst day fishing . . .

 

As it turns out the fish is a firm white meat that cooks up tender and delicious—definitely worth the early wake up and Dramamine®.  Now down to the serious business of eating the catch.  First is the Filleting process which is deftly handled here in this video by first mate Steve (who shockingly only works for tips).

 

 

 

 

For the next part, I called the one expert I know on how to cook these beautiful fish, my Mommy-in-law.  Normally recipes in the Midwest list “half an egg shell” as a legitimate unit of measurement—no, I am not kidding you on that.  Below are the tried and true steps to genuine Midwest cuisine (using approximations for measurements):

 

Ingredients:

Four fillets of striped bass or rockfish

2 cups corn meal

3 eggs

Half cup of whole milk (raw milk is best where ever it may still be legal)

1 Tablespoon of Old Bay® seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

2/3 cup of lard in a cast iron skillet

 

Steps:

Melt the lard in the cast iron skillet, other industrial seed oils may work as well here, I cannot say since we do not use them

 

melt lard

 

Beat eggs and milk together, set aside

 

eggs and milk

 

If you are making your own corn meal with a grain mill (gold foilie star for you) then start there, if using bagged meal (recommend stone ground corn meal) add 2 cups to a flat baking dish

 

Stir salt, pepper and Old Bay® into corn meal to create a breading mixture

 

salt, pepper, corn meal and Old Bay

 

Rinse off any blood from fillets and pat fillets dry with a paper towel

 

cut striped bass fillets

Dip fillets (TIp: I found that half fillets were more manageable than whole fillets) into egg then into corn meal.

 

dip fillets in egg batter

 

dip fillets in corn meal

 

Optional: for that real Midwest breading, double dip the fillet back into the egg and then the corn meal

 

double dip in egg batter

 

Place fillet in hot grease, cook until brown, then flip  (add grease if needed)

 

place fillet in hot grease

 

Place fillet on paper towel in a dish

 

Serve with favorite sides

 

Fried striped bass

 

 

That is it.  This is a time tested recipe, and I am sure that there are more complicated variants, but by applying Occam’s Razor I am to the table enjoying my catch quickly.  Let me know if you get to try this delicacy, just leave a comment below. 

 

Wilson

 

Pro Deo et Patria

 

 

Proviso:

 

Nothing in this blog constitutes medical advice.  You should consult your own physician before making any dietary changes.  Statements in this blog may or may not be congruent with current USDA or FDA guidance.

 

Photo Credits:

All Photos by Pantry Paratus