Stimulating Summer Sea Bass

A bit late for a summer post, you might be thinking, but not true!  In Britain, we take summer when we can get it, whether it be after the end of British summertime or not.  And the end of British summertime was indeed one of those days that you have to be thankful for.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take advantage of the spurt of summer, being at work for most of the daytime, but coming out from a stuffy office into warm, bright sun inspired me to cook something refreshing.

I picked up two sea bass from the supermarket.  It was a poor girl's first day behind the fish counter and I asked her to gut them for me.  Her supervisor suggested I carry on with my shopping and the pair of fish should be ready when I'd done.  As it happens, having gone up and down all the aisles twice, the fish were still not ready and I had to wait a further 5-10 minutes.  Nevertheless, I am happy that I was able to be some part of someone learning something new today.  And, anyway, I can't talk - I didn't gut the fish!

My wait at the fish counter also caused me to pick up some sea aster - which looked like some sort of salad leaf, but sounded suitably exotic for the dinner.  I finished off my shopping and headed home to stuff and bake my fish.

An Overstuffed Sea Bass!

Once home, I swiftly chopped some spinach, sea aster, lots of ginger, some garlic and some cashews.  I squeezed in some lime and stuffed the open cavities of the fish with the mixture.  I put a little oil on some tin foil, then folded the ends round to make a little package.  The packages were then placed in a preheated oven at 200C for 30 minutes (15 mins per 500g + 15 mins).  Meanwhile, I boiled some egg noodles and put together a vegetable stir fry.

30 minutes later (or what should have been 30 minutes later, but my brother and his friends had things to finish off before dinner) - a delicious summer dish was served with a nice glass of chilled sauvignon blanc.  Perfect!