Branzini

About the Recipe:

This is a “cheffy” take on whole grilled fish. The butchering is a little difficult, but the result is simple grilled fish with no bones, as juicy and texturally sound as its fully bone-in counterpart. Additionally, the black olive compound butter internally bastes the fish while grilling. The results are spectacular. The caul fat, which melts away when grilling, reinforces the structural integrity of the boneless fish while sealing the compound butter in its cavity. If you are against the use of butter, this technique will allow you to stuff the fish with anything that excites you.
Ladolemono is a Greek version of lemon sauce that is like a super-charged vinaigrette, and a
natural partner for grilled seafood.

INGREDIENTS:

Ladolemono:

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 1 tablespoon dry Greek oregano

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Assembly:

• 2 garlic cloves minced and pasted with a little salt

• 2 oil-cured black olives, pitted and torn

• 1/2 scallion, green part only, roughly chopped

• 1 teaspoon. kosher salt

• 1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon zest

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature freshly ground black pepper

• 1-lb. whole branzino or loup de mer

• 3 ounces pork caul fat, soaked in cold water and squeezed dry

• extra-virgin olive oil

• 1/4 cup fresh herb leaves, such as dill, parsley, and/or chives

• sea salt

PREPRATION:

Mix lemon juice, mustard, oregano, and salt in a bowl; season with pepper. Add oil, whisking

constantly; reserve. This sauce will separate, so whisk again before using.

Place garlic, olives, scallion, salt, and lemon zest in the bowl of a small food processor; process until smooth; add butter; season generously with pepper; pulse to blend.
Place the compound butter onto the bottom end of large piece of parchment paper; fold the top down to cover; smooth with your fingers until butter has spread to 1/4" thick; freeze on baking sheet at least 2 hours or overnight.

Heat a grill to high.

To prepare the butterflied fish, first remove the fins, then scale it. Once scaled, remove the guts by running your knife along the belly from the vent to the gills, opening up the fish and removing the guts. With scissors, make a small cut in the skeletal structure at the bottom of the gills, grab the gills and pull them away from body. Wash the fish thoroughly inside and out.
Place fish on a cutting board positioned perpendicular to your body; cut down the bone structure on either side of the spine all the way through. Snip the spine just below the head and just above tail and remove the skeleton in one piece. Using a pair of tweezers, remove any residual bones on both fillets. The result will be a boned out body with skin, head and tail intact.
Break off a long piece of frozen butter and place inside each fish. Wrap each fish in single layer of caul fat, trimming any overlapping bits with kitchen scissors.
Brush with olive oil and season with kosher salt and pepper. On a very hot charcoal or gas grill, grill for about 10 minutes total, turning once, until beautifully charred.
Immediately transfer to a platter to catch the butter and juices. Whisk ladolemono and drizzle liberally over fish; sprinkle with herbs and salt and serve.

Note: if you can’t find caul fat, or want an alternative to pork products, you may tie the fish up with fine kitchen twine.

Prep Time:

Cook Time:

10 min

30 min

Serves:

Type:

Entree