Simply grilled fresh striped bass with a homemade cucumber and creme fraiche tartar sauce – a classic from Cru Nantucket!
When your boy catches fish… you open up the Cru Nantucket cookbook and get grilling. This recipe is simple and fresh, easy and light, and a touch decadent with a creme fraiche tartar sauce, made with tons of herbs and grated cucumber. These are the ingredients that let the main ingredient shine – as it should. The first step to this recipe, requires either a good fish market, or better yet, a great friend who knows where the fish are! We are lucky to call this guy exactly that – JB a legit friend with superb fishing benefits. Please note – the fish pictured was let go, as it was above the allowed size, but don’t worry, they caught another one that was just perfect!
The best part about fresh fish is you really don’t have to do much to it for dinner to be incredible. Turning to the experts, I found this recipe in the Cru Nantucket Cookbook. I made a couple of minor tweaks, and this recipe will work for most white fish you can grill – halibut, swordfish, even lobster if you are up for that. Classic summer flavors that just make the fish taste more like itself and fresh.
I think what sold me on this recipe was the counterpart – the cucumber tartar sauce. It’s not just a condiment, but the second star of the dish – boosted with the richness of creme fraiche (the Cru version recommends mayo, but I like the tanginess of the CF) and literally tons of herbs, grated cucumber, and lemon zest, it’s like a tatziki on steroids. It pairs well with the fresh fish, but you could imagine this on a bun with fried chicken, grilled veggie’s or even the old stand by of a frozen fish stick – elevate the ordinary!
Grilled Striper with Creme Fraiche and Cucumber Tartar Sauce
Ingredients
- 2-3 lbs striped bass fillets
- 1/2 lemon, to squeeze over the fish when done cooking
- flaked sea salt for finishing
Grilled Fish Marinade
- 1/2 cup chopped chives
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1/2 large shallot, minced
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper
Creme Fraiche and Cucumber Tartar Sauce
- 1 hothouse cucumber, sliced in half, seeds removed
- 8 oz creme fraiche
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/2 cup chopped chives
- 1/4 cup drained capers
- 1/4 cup chopped pepperoncini
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Grilled Fish Marinade
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and stir until well mixed.
Creme Fraiche and Cucumber Tartar Sauce
- This is best made in advance. Mix all the ingredients together and rest in the fridge until ready to serve. This will keep for a week in a sealed container.
For the Fish and Preparation
- Step one - find yourself a great friend who is amazing at fishing.
- Clean your striper filets, deboning if needed - a pair of tweezers works well with this. You can run your hand down the back of the fish to feel for the flexible bones. If they don't pull out easily, do it after cooking - they will slide out easily then.
- Coat the fish with the marinade while you preheat your grill to medium high heat. The fish can sit in the marinade for up to several hours in the fridge, but even a 20 minute rest helps with the flavor.
- When the grill is hot, coat the grates liberally with a neutral oil (I use canola on a paper towel, and run it over the grill with tongs). The fish can stick to the grill, so this is an important step, as this marinade isn't very heavy on the oil.
- Grill the fish, skin side down if you have skin on filets, then flip after 5 minutes or so, finishing with another 5 minutes on the other side. This is a fish you want to cook all the way through - depending on the thickness and the heat of your grill, you may need to adjust the cooking time. You want the fillets to bounce back when touched, and they should flake easily.
- Remove from the grill when cooked, and finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (I used half a lemon for ours). Sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt and serve with the cold tartar sauce.
Notes
