PLAKA (GREEK) A nice block of very fresh Chilean sea bass last night presented me with the usual tasty issue for this fish, a favorite in our household: It has a beautiful white color and a lovely firm-yet-flaky texture, and a good "delicate" flavor that really needs something in the recipe to heighten and set it off. A simple sautee or poaching would result in an awfully bland entree. I ended up baking it with a variation on a basic Greek preparation called "plaka," leaving out the usual tomatoes. Basically it's nothing more than simple fish baked on a bed of onions, garlic and olive oil. Nothing the matter with that! I started with a 1-pound block of Chilean sea bass, trimmed off the skin, and in a judgement call decided to butterfly it to make a somewhat thinner piece that would cook up faster. Put the prepared fish on a plate, squirt it all over with lemon juice, sprinkle on salt and pepper and oregano to taste, and let it sit at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes while you get the rest of dinner ready. Slice two medium onions into rings, and mince together 2 big garlic cloves with enough fresh ginger to make about a teaspoon. Sautee the onions, garlic and ginger together in 2 tablespoons or more olive oil (you need to use enough to give flavor), until they just start to brown. Pour half the onion-garlic mix into an ovenproof baking dish or casserole. Put the fish on top, and put the rest of the onions on top of that. Bake at 400 F until the fish is just done, white and starting to flake.
|
