COLORADO STRIPED BASS WITH TOMATOES
“It’s not always necessary to go to the coasts for a great flavored seafood option. Colorado Catch Hybrid Striped Bass is naturally raised from fingerlings to fillets in pure artesian waters flowing from Colorado’s San Luis Valley. This firm yet flaky and moist textured fish is farmed in Alamosa by a family-owned company, Colorado Catch. Co-owner Tyler Faucette says the company produces 350,000 pounds of the bass each year, and nearly half of that stays local, being consumed within the state of
Colorado. Colorado Catch’s unique geothermal resources and circular tank system have enabled them to increase growth rates, eliminate off-flavors and sustain yields for year-round production.” ~ Seattle Fish Company
RECIPE: Colorado Catch Striped Hybrid Bass with Tomatoes on Toast
Adapted by Bill St. John from “Fish” (Phaidon Press, 2012). Serves 2-3.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 slices thick-crumbed, crusted bread
1 18-20 ounce whole Colorado Catch Striped Hybrid Bass, dressed, or equivalent weight in filets, skin on
8 ounces highest-quality whole peeled tomatoes, roughly chopped, or more to taste
1 small garlic clove, peeled and minced
2 medium shallots, peeled and minced
1-2 small ribs celery, from center of bunch only, leaves and ribs chopped fine
1/4 cup dry white wine or apple juice
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, onions and celery. With some of the olive oil, brush a ceramic ovenproof or gratin dish large enough to hold all the ingredients. Place the bread slices in the dish, overlapping if necessary for them all to fit, Lay the fish atop the bread, skin side up.
Sprinkle the garlic, onions and celery mixture evenly over the fish, then the chopped tomatoes, again as evenly as possible. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Pour the white wine or apple juice around the perimeter of the dish, circling both the bread and the fish.
Bake the fish for 30 minutes or until slightly firm to the touch. Remove and let rest for 5 minutes, then serve, passing around both bread and fish to each plate.
Wine Pairing and Why: To paraphrase St. Paul, in wine there are acid, sweet, tannin and alcohol, but the greatest of these is acid. Acidity—that tangy, zesty close to a sip of wine, that which sweeps the palate clean—is crucially important to delicious, successful wine and food pairings. It balances wine against any correlative acidity in the food prepared, as here, with its ample tomatoes and wine “sauce.” The two acidities, interestingly, cancel each other out and a taste of both together is refreshing and cleansing, not tart or sour. The key, then, is white or red wine that’s crisp, such as a Picpoul de Pinet from Southern France a Saint-Pourcin, red or white, perfect for rich but fleshy fish, or perhaps any number of lightly oaked (or no-oak) Chardonnays from around the globe, such as a top quality Mâcon-Villages.