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Berkshire Hudson Valley Reader Submitted

Entree

Pan-Seared Massachusetts Striped Bass with Heirloom

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Serves 4
Chef/Owner Peter Platt
Old Inn on the Green
New Marlborough, MA

4 heirloom tomatoes, 2 red and 2 yellow, peeled, cored, and seeded
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and quartered lengthwise
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
24 pitted kalamata olives, slivered
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
4 six-ounce boneless wild striped bass filets, scaled, skin on
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 head Bibb lettuce leaves, torn
1 tablespoon aged balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup small fresh purple or green basil leaves

Vegetables
Slice the tomatoes into wedges. Cut the slices into small diced cubes or diamond shapes. Slice the cucumber on the bias into 1/4-inch-wide pieces. In a skillet coated with olive oil, slowly cook the cucumber until soft (about 5 minutes). Let cool. Mix together the olive oil, sherry vinegar, olive slivers, tomato, cucumber, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Fish
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the grapeseed oil in an oven-safe sauté pan (large enough to hold the fish without crowding) over medium-high heat. Season the fish on both sides with salt and pepper. Using a very sharp knife, score the skin in a crosshatch pattern to prevent curling. Place the fish in the pan skin side down. Sauté until the skin begins to brown and crisp, and then put the pan in the oven to finish the cooking. The filets will be done, start to finish, in about 5 to 8 minutes, depending on their thickness and the temperature of the pan. The fish is done when it is just cooked through.
If bass is not available at the fish market, snapper can be substituted.

Assembly
In a large skillet coated with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, sauté the lettuce quickly over medium-high heat until slightly wilted (a few seconds). Pat the leaves dry and arrange them in the center of each of the four plates. Place one cooked filet on top of the lettuce in the center of each plate. Spoon the vegetable mixture around the fish. Drizzle a small amount of the balsamic around the edge of the dish and garnish with basil leaves. Serve immediately.