The Frenchmans Bass Recipes

Steps:

• Place bass in a bowl. Add salt and cover with water. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes to draw out all blood. Rinse bass thoroughly to remove salt. Pat dry with paper towels.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place cornmeal, flour, seasoned salt, paprika, and pepper in a gallon-sized plastic bag. Zip and shake until evenly combined.
• Drop 2 pieces of bass into the bag, zip, and shake to coat. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining bass.
• Fry bass in the preheated deep fryer for 3 minutes per batch. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Season the fillets with salt and pepper. Heat a saute pan on top of the grill. When the pan is hot add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and heat. Dredge the bass fillets in the flour and shake off any excess. Place the fillets in the pan and pan fry about 3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Remove the fish from the pan. Add the rest of the butter to the pan and melt. When the butter is hot, add the sliced garlic. Fry the garlic until it just begins to turn light golden brown. Add the herbs and remove from the heat. Carefully, add the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, place a fillet on a plate and spoon some of the lemon garlic herb butter over the fish.

Steps:

• Beat the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl until well blended. Pour the egg mixture into a baking pan large enough to give you room to turn and soak the bread. (A 13 by 9-inch pan works well.)
• Lay the bread slices in the egg mixture and let them soak, turning them several times, until the bread has soaked up all the egg. Turn them gently so they don't break apart on you.
• Heat the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. When it starts to bubble, lay the soaked bread in the pan. Cook, turning once, until the bread is nicely browned and the egg in the center of each slice is cooked through, about 12 minutes. Serve warm with the Orange-Rum Bananas.
• Note: If your skillet isn't large enough to hold all the bread slices at once, cook them in batches. Before you start your first batch, preheat your oven to 200 degrees F (or "Warm"). Keep the cooked slices warm on a baking sheet in the oven while you cook the rest.
• Heat rum, sugar, butter and orange juice in a large skillet until the butter is melted. Add the bananas. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat so the sauce is bubbling gently. Cook until the bananas are softened, about 4 minutes.
• Yield: 4 servings

Steps:

• For the sauce, whisk together: 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, Salt, Fresh-ground black pepper.
• Taste for salt and lemon juice and adjust as desired. The sauce will separate as it sits; this is not a problem.
• Season: 4 pieces striped bass, skin on (4 to 6 ounces each) with: Salt, Fresh-ground black pepper.
• Choose a heavy-bottomed pan for frying the fish. Take another, slightly smaller pan that will fit into the pan for the fish, and wrap its bottom with foil. This pan will be used as a weight to hold the fish flat against the frying pan to ensure that all of the skin will cook and crisp. (You will see the fish contract when it goes into the hot pan, as the skin shrinks on contact with the heat.) Warm the larger pan over medium-high heat. When hot, pour in: Olive oil, enough to generously coat the bottom.
• Add the pieces of bass, skin side down, and place the foil-wrapped pan on top of the fish. Cook until the skin is brown and crispy, about 7 minutes. Check now and then to see that the fish is indeed browning, but not overbrowning. Adjust the heat up or down to speed up or slow down the cooking as needed. When the skin is browned, remove the top pan and turn the fish. Cook for another minute or so, until the fish is just cooked through, but is still moist and tender inside. Meanwhile whisk the lemon sauce together again and pour it onto a warm plate. Serve the fish skin side up, on top of the sauce.
• Garnish the fish with a couple spoonfuls of chopped tender herbs such as parsley, chives, chervil, cilantro, or basil.
• Soak, rinse, and squeeze dry a tablespoon or so of capers. When the fish is cooked add the capers to the hot pan and sauté for a minute or two. Remove with a slotted spoon and scatter over the fish.
• Make a Beurre Blanc (Warm Butter Sauce; page 228) instead of the olive oil sauce.