Whole Sea Bass with Mussels in Tomato Sauce and Stewed Cabbage

It’s been a while I know – at least a month since my last posting (I feel like I’m in confession!). There’s good reason though, we were in Portugal on vacation. To say we had a great time would be an understatement. The people, the culture, the history and oh yes – the food! People would look at my last name and start to speak to me in Portuguese – I would look back with a typical “what” expression and apologize for not understanding. They were super accommodating and when I said I was from India, they immediately replied “from Goa”. It was all a marvelous experience.

From a foodie perspective, I think what I like most about travelling to the EU countries is they really bring it home in their style of cooking – the simplicity of the “add-ons” that emphasize the natural flavor of the product – in this case, fish. I think what we do here in Canada is also marvelous cuisine but we tend to use the more is better concept – more flavoring for more taste. I’m trying to get back to simpler styles that yield the same results. It’s why I love cooking Italian food so much. I now have another favorite cuisine to play with – Portuguese. Probably the most famous of dishes is the Bacalhau, a traditional salt cod dish that is cooked in more ways than you can imagine and available so readily – even the corner convenience stores carry it. It was used in stews, pies, appetizers, hors d ‘oeuvres – wow, such a variety of applications. Then of course, every kind of seafood imaginable – probably the tastiest octopus I’ve had, snails – no not escargot, squid etc. So fresh!

If you have attended any of my classes you will have noticed when asked what my favorite marinade is, I will typically respond – olive oil (no, I don’t need to say good quality as it will always be implied), salt and pepper. Beyond that I may add some heat via cayenne or just fresh hot chilies. Whenever I do a bbq or roast/bake for the kids (when they come home), they are always amazed at how tasty it is with the simple marinade above.

Many of you will know that I am a carnivore through and through, but I became a sea food lover in Portugal. So fresh, so tasty, so simply prepared! Not a bread crumb or batter in sight. Just baked, broiled, grilled or stewed. So today, I’m presenting a typical Portuguese meal that my wife and I enjoyed (many lunches and dinners) while there. It’s whole roasted sea bass with a side of vegetables. The side seems simple enough – and it is, but is very flavorful and complements the fish nicely.

If whole fish intimidates you, I hope this recipe will convince you to give this a try. I will also attempt to show you – in pictures, how to debone the fish and get it ready for the table. Really it just takes a bit of practice and patience – I know, did you ever think I would be a model of patience?! I served this with some mussels done in a tomato sauce, really the easiest one you will make. That’s three recipes in one posting. As always – enjoy!

Whole Sea Bass
1 whole sea bass
Olive oil, salt and pepper

Have your local fish market clean and trim the fish for you – just ask them nicely
Heat the oven to 425f
Line a rimmed baking tray with foil, brush some olive oil on the foil (optional – I thinly sliced an onion, tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, and placed it on the tray)
Dry the fish using paper towels – inside and out
Salt and pepper all sides including the stomach cavity
Rub with the olive oil – or use a silicone pastry brush to spread the oven evenly
Bake for 7 – 10 minutes or until the fish is cooked – remove from the oven and tent with foil
Turn the broiler on, when ready, place the fish back in the oven and crisp the skin – it should bubble and blister, carefully flip over and repeat the process – this should take about 1 minute per side and will go from perfect to burned in seconds – do not leave this unattended.

Stewed Cabbage
½ head cabbage
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced
¼ cup vegetable stock or water
Olive oil, salt and pepper

Chop the cabbage into pieces
In a medium sized pot, add 2 tbsp. olive oil
When hot – add the onions and jalapeno – sauté 5 minutes until onions are softened
Add the cabbage and stir to coat in the olive oil/onion mixture
Add the vegetable stock, salt and pepper – stir to coat
Cover and cook over medium heat until cabbage is tender – season with additional salt and pepper

Mussels in Tomato Sauce
1 kg mussels, cleaned and scrubbed, damaged shells discarded
1 can whole cherry tomatoes – red or yellow
1 onion, diced
½ cup water or white wine
1 jalapeno chili (optional, if you are a wimp)

In a large pot, sauté the onions and jalapenos until soft – about 5 minutes
Add the cherry tomatoes to the pot
Add 1/2 cup water or stock to the can and swirl to get any remaining tomato pulp out of the can
Cover and cook for 10 minutes
Taste, season with salt and pepper and taste again
Add the mussels – toss in the sauce, cover and cook for 5 – 7 minutes until the mussels have opened up and are still plump – discard any unopened mussels – mussels that are overcooked will shrink and become rubbery
Remove from the heat and leave covered
Serve with the fish and cabbage, and a crusty loaf to sop up all that beautifully flavored mussel tomato sauce