Quick-Braised Striped Bass with Artichokes and Zucchini

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 small, young zucchini, halved lengthwise
• 4 tomatoes, peeled
• 2 lbs. sea bass filet (skin on), cut into 4 pieces
• 2 tbs. peanut oil
• 4 braised artichokes, and 1 c. braising liquid with aromatic vegetables, from: Artichokes Braised in Olive Oil and White Wine.
• 1/4 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• zest of 1 lemon, finely chopped
• 2-3 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• kosher salt and ground black pepper

Steps:

1. Slice zucchini into thin semicircles. Cook in boiling salted water until tender, about 3 minutes. Rinse under cold water, drain, and set aside.
2. Cut tomatoes into quarters. Remove seeds, then cut into thin lengths. (You should have roughly equal amounts of zucchini and tomatoes.)
3. Rinse fish, pat dry, and salt and pepper on both sides. Heat peanut oil over medium-high heat. Add fish, skin-side down, and cook until skin side is crisp (the edges appear lightly browned), about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
4. Wipe skillet. Add braising liquid with aromatic vegetables. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add zucchini, tomatoes, and artichokes, and reduce heat to medium-low. Lay fish, skin-side up, over the vegetables, and gently simmer, spooning broth over the fish, until fish flakes easily, about 4 minutes. Add parsley and lemon zest to broth, then transfer fish to serving bowls. Add olive oil to the broth, adjust seasons with salt and pepper. Spoon broth and vegetables over fish and serve.

Notes:

• I couldn't find sea bass with skin on, so used red snapper. I made one big mistake in cooking: put fish skin-side down instead of skin-side up, which made it hard to get the fish properly cooked. A couple of fishes came out good, but one was very tough.

Keywords: Unknown, Fish.