Amy's Stuffed Striped Bass

Fresh striped bass meat is firm textured and not "fishy". A whole fish yields mostly white meat. Fish size is limited only by the size of your oven and bakeware (this one fit nicely in our 36" Viking). Ingredient amounts are very flexible depending on the fish size. Gut the fish and scale thoroughly because the roasted skin is yummy! Remove the head and tail if they don't fit in the bakeware. Cut several places in the side of the fish to prevent curling, rub salt and lots of black pepper into the skin and coat with olive oil. Extra stuffing can be baked in a dish. Leftover striper makes great fish cakes.

For the stuffing:

Butter/bacon fat and or olive oil

Chopped onion and celery

Saltine crackers and semolina bread chunks chopped in a food processor with some dry bread crumbs

Cooked shrimp coarsely chopped

Clam juice (bottled) or chicken stock

Fresh lemon juice

White wine

Whole celery seed

Hot pepper sauce

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Thyme

Chopped parsley

Two eggs well beaten

Saute the onion and celery in a generous amount of fat until soft with a little bit of crunch. Add to the bread cubes and saltines in a large bowl. Add the shrimp. Wet the bread mixture with clam juice, lemon juice and white wine until it all holds together nicely. Season to taste with hot pepper sauce, celery seed and plenty of salt and pepper. Add eggs and blend well. Bake in and along side the fish. Place the fish on a bed of coarse salt to bake so the skin doesn't stick. Make a lot... you'll want more!

Preheat oven to 500 degrees, bake the fish for 10-15 minutes then turn heat down to 400. Roast undisturbed for another 15-20 minutes until the fish looks sizzly and well roasted with an internal temperature of 130 degrees. Don't let it bake long enough to get dry. It's not necessary to turn the fish. Use two big spoons to separate the meat from the bones. Yum!!