Grilled Sea Bass on Rocket and Sun dried Tomato Salad

Once along time ago I used to cook for a living, now I cook for enjoyment

So every now and then I will post up a recipe or cooking tips

Here's the first

Grilled Sea Bass on Rocket and Sun dried Tomato Salad

Nice and easy, but the beauty is in it's simplicity - fish should never in my opinion be served with complicated and heavy sauces, simply grilling brings out the natural flavours

Buy the fish whole, and always check for freshness, signs of a fish beyond it's best are sunken eyes, they should be full and wet looking, not dried and sunken, gills should be a pinky red colour and not dull grey the smell should be of the sea and not overly fishy

You can ask the fishmonger to fillet the fish and descale it for you, but once you get it home it is best to wash it again and with the back of a knife scrap the skin from tail end to head end to remove any scales that the fishmonger may have missed

Score the skin to assist with even cooking (need I say it - but wash hands after handling raw food!)

Now add some salad and rocket leaves to a bowl, maybe some herb leaves perhaps dill or parsley - add a small handful of roughly chopped Sun Dried tomatoes and black olives. mix all together with a tablespoon or two of good Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Spanish is best) and a squeeze of lemon juice

Arrange the salad on plate in a good tall pile. Now heat a Griddle or Pan so it is hot but not smoking and place the fish skin side down and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, turn the fillet over and cook for the same amount of time on this side. Ensure it is cooked through, the flesh should be a creamy white colour all the way through, and no look of rawness

Now serve the Sea Bass on top of the salad and enjoy a lovely light summer evening meal with glass of white or rose wine

One fillet is usually enough for a portion, but I put two in this photo

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