Once you've got fillets (as opposed to a whole bass) the best thing

is to make steaks of the fillets. This is because the flesh is so firm that you can make it look really impressive by plonking the fillet on top of something else.

This is a favourite of mine: roast an assortment of veggies (eg courgettes, peppers, whole garlic cloves, red onions) chopped fairly small in olive oil and salt. Pile the roasted veggies into a tower on the plate using metal cookie cutter type things - you want them a nice precise circle for maximum "oh what a sensitive new man who cares about food let me get my knickers off" effect. Fry the bass fillets HARD in butter and garlic, get the skin really crispy. Place fillet on veg tower. Pour on a little sauce of choice - Hollandaise is good, fish stock reduced and with added cream, foamed butter and chopped chives is good. Serve with white burgundy (a decent Macon is fine).

Posted By: Old Git, Sep 14, 10:22:35