Your Cooking Lesson

Advice, explanation, and in-depth information to help you achieve recipe success.

Here in the Mid-Atlantic, one of our most anticipated springtime treats is fresh, wild-caught rockfish—known to most North Americans as striped bass. The traditional striped bass season begins in early March, when these anadromous roundfish begin their journey from the Atlantic ocean up the region’s estuaries and coastal rivers to spawn. Early Chesapeake colonists wrote of fish schools so large and densely-packed that watermen struggled to steer their boats through them.

Atlantic striped bass ranges from the St. Lawrence River in Canada down the coast to northern Florida. (In the MId-Atlantic region, striped bass is known as rockfish.) In the mid-1980s over-fishing had decimated the Atlantic striped bass population to the point where commercial fishing was banned for several years. Today striped bass is still listed with an “overfished” rating, but official management practices now allow for monitored commercial fishing of wild striped bass in all state waters except New Jersey’s. A farm-raised striped bass-white bass hybrid is also available in some areas.

Most commercially-sold striped bass fillets are fabricated from fish weighing 20 to 30 pounds. Small, 2- to 3-lb striped bass are sold whole. Wild-caught striped bass has firm, moist flesh, a delicious and distinctive flavor, and a price tag commensurate to its fine quality. It is, hands-down, my very favorite fish—and I heartily recommend that you try it!

Fresh, wild-caught striped bass needs very little embellishment. This recipe teams it with young and tender seasonal vegetables and a subtle butter sauce based on a smooth, pale-green purée of leeks.

Leeks are basically root vegetables, so the part we eat grows underground. Each leek is composed of many layers, and soil particles often lodge between them. To fabricate leeks to be used as a vegetable, trim away the dark green leaves and then cut a lengthwise slit halfway into the leek. Wash the leek section under cold running water, gently separating the layers but keeping the leek as intact as possible. When it’s thoroughly clean, squeeze it back together. For this recipe you’ll cut 2-inch diagonal pieces and then chop about 1/2 c to make the leek purée.

Poach the chopped leeks, uncovered, in water with butter and salt until very soft. The poaching water will reduce to just a tablespoon or two. Then grind the leeks into a smooth purée. For making small amounts of purée, a wet-dry electric spice grinder is most efficient. https://amzn.to/4kWGget Alternatively, you can use a blender.

One of the marketing strategies for new potatoes promotes these thin skins, which are edible and a good source of dietary fiber. So, no, you don’t have to peel them before eating them. However, with the skins left on, the potatoes don’t readily absorb our delicious leek butter sauce. So, I advise peeling them. Cook at a lively simmer, cool enough to handle, and slip off the loosened skins by scraping gently with a paring knife.

Carrots are remarkably sturdy vegetables. Grown to maturity, harvested, and then stored under the right conditions, they can last for many months. But young, springtime carrots are another thing altogether. They’re sweet, tender, juicy, and crisp-tender. You can recognize young carrots in the market because they’re sold with the leafy tops—or, at least the green stems—attached. In general, the smaller and more slender they are, the better. For this recipe, peel the carrots and, if they’re very long, whittle down the points to shorten the carrots enough to fit in your sauté pan. Scrape away any discoloration when the carrot’s “shoulders” meet the stems.

If necessary, cut the fish into 7-oz portions.

All fish fillets have a presentation side and a skin side. The presentation side (shown on the left) is the side that was adjacent to the fish frame, or bones when the fish was still whole. The presentation side is slightly convex, has a matte finish, and a paler color. The skin side, per the name, was adjacent to the skin. The skin side is flat, has a shiny appearance, and a darker color. It’s important to be able to distinguish the presentation side, as this is the side of the fillet you’ll sauté first and, when plating, will be visible. Use your fingertips to feel the fish flesh on the presentation side for pin bones, thin filaments of cartilage that may remain after processing. If you find any, remove them with kitchen tweezers or sanitized needle nose pliers. To avoid tearing the flesh, pull them out in the direction to which they point, not up or backward. 

With only a few more tasks your prep is complete. Here’s your mise tray:

It’s dinnertime—let’s COOK!

Technically, a ragoût is a stew, usually comprising meat and vegetables. But the term broadly refers to cooking foods slowly, in a flavorful liquid, over low heat. Thus, our vegetable ragoût is a mixture of vegetables cooked together by first sweating them in butter to glaze their surfaces, then poaching them in a cuisson of seasoned, butter-enhanced water. This method brings out their sweetness and gives them a lush texture. It’s important to carefully monitor their cooking so they become just tender, but not mushy. When they’re just a little shy of tender, drain the cuisson into a sauté pan to become part of the sauce.

To sear means to sauté food over high heat. Searing produces a highly attractive, deep-golden-brown, crusty-textured exterior. When chefs sauté fish fillets they use the rule of 10 minutes’ total cooking time per 1 inch of thickness; measure the thickness of your fish before you begin cooking. But striped bass fillets cook quickly and are best when still slightly translucent in the center. So you may need to modify the cooking time accordingly. To achieve the best crust, use a well-seasoned carbon steel sauté pan. https://amzn.to/4kXpRq9 Place the pan over high heat until very hot, and blot the fillets dry with paper towels. Add some oil, and then add the fish, presentation side-down. Once they sear enough to release from the pan, lower the heat to medium and sauté halfway through the required cooking time. Season with salt and turn over the fillets. Continue cooking almost to the total cooking time, but use a paring knife to take a peek inside. Remember that, once off the heat, the fillets’ interior temperature will continue to rise due to carryover cooking.

While the fillets are sautéing, reheat the potatoes in a microwave oven, and then start the sauce by reducing the cuisson by about half. Stir in the leek purée, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Now you’ll start working in the butter to create an emulsion, a fragile mixture of fat and water—two normally un-mixable substances. Although the leek purée serves to stabilize the emulsion, you still need to be very careful about temperatures. The sauce base must be hot enough to slowly melt the butter, but not so hot that the butter splits, releasing oily fat. Move the pan off and onto low heat as needed to keep the sauce looking smooth and creamy. Evaluate the seasoning and add salt if needed.

Now you’re ready to plate! Use tongs to place the potatoes at the top left of a warmed plate or entrée bowl, and then arrange the vegetables at the bottom left. Portion each type vegetable evenly. Lift the fillet with a fish spatula https://amzn.to/4hMGFgO and tongs, and position it propped against the potatoes on the right side of the plate. Nap the fish and vegetables with the butter sauce. For this task chefs prefer using a plating spoon, both for its perfect 2 1/2-Tbsp capacity and its pointed-oval shape that enables excellent control. I’ve had my plating spoon for years and, frankly, don’t even remember where it came from! But there are great plating spoons available in kitchenware shops and online. https://amzn.to/4l189lx Finally, sprinkle a line of mixed springtime herbs across the plate and you’re ready to enjoy.