Grilled Sheefish with Citrus Basil Puree

My friend’s son went to Alaska to spend the summer working for his grandmother. When he came back you could see the excitement in his eyes, eager to tell us about his experience. What an adventure! He also brought us a fifteen pound (bone-in) Sheefish about 2 feet long. I couldn’t thank him and his grandmother enough for thinking of us. Have I ever cooked or tasted a Sheefish? No. My friend told me it’s a firm white fish. After a little research I found out they compare it to Halibut and many recipes call for either fish. We cut the fish in half and the other half into 2 pieces and froze it for later use. Half of this fish is large. My Uncle was visiting so I had him, my parents and my neighbors over for a Sheefish dinner, and all were excited to try it. We still only ate a little more than half of it! I have never cooked a whole fish, well in this case a semi whole fish, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I talked to my Uncle’s friend who has lived, traveled all over the world; he gave me lots of ideas. I took a walk through my gardens and this time of year lends itself to Mediterranean cooking. I have tomatoes galore, zucchini, swiss chard and fresh herbs such as 3 different kinds of basil, thyme, oregano and 2 kinds of chives. The following is what I came up with, I did not write down measurements but it was tasty and the puree was delicious. I’m thinking in the winter I will make a Cioppino with one remaining piece of the fish and with the other I might steam it in a wok Asian style. Please comment with any ideas or suggestions.

Grilled Sheefish with Citrus Basil Puree

 

Citrus Basil Puree

In a blender place; equal parts Italian basil leaves and Lemon basil leaves (about a cup each), zest and juice of an orange. Blend until chopped; add extra virgin olive oil until a smooth paste forms. Add salt and pepper to taste, adding more orange juice if needed. Pour into a pitcher, such as a creamer, and refrigerate until later use. Remove the puree a half hour before serving to bring it up to room temperature.

Add ¼ cup of white wine to blender and blend to “clean” the blender of the basil puree, set aside.

Sheefish

Rinse fish and pat dry. Cut gashes into the thickest parts of the fish, see above, this will make sure the inside of the fish cooks through. Pour blender wine over and in fish. Generously salt the inside cavity of the fish and generously oil the outside of the fish. Mince about 6 cloves of garlic, put inside of cavity and in gashes of fish. Inside of cavity of fish place slices of oranges and lemons, thyme sprigs, oregano sprigs and basil stems leftover from making the basil puree.

Heat a grill over medium-high heat. Once hot, turn the burners where you plan to place the fish to low heat and the other burners to medium-low. Generously oil grates with an oiled paper towel. Place fish on oiled grill, placing the thinner end of fish towards the cooler side of grill (ours tends to burn hotter on the left – near the gas inlet).

Cook 10 minutes for each inch of thickness, turning over halfway through cooking time. Make sure when flipping over to get your spatula under the skin. As in our case we did not and the skin was left on the grill, I place a sheet of foil over the fish so it didn’t dry out. We had the fish and grill properly oiled because the skin came off in one piece. At this point you can also grill some lemon and orange halves, placing cut side down. Once you have some good grill marks on the citrus remove to the serving platter. Place fish on platter and serve.

I made “Easy Zucchini, Vidalia Onion, Risotto with Feta”, “Fresh Tomato Herb Salad” and “Simply Swiss Chard” all were wonderful healthy fresh sides and can be found at HomeGardenCook. My neighbor brought homemade rolls and my Mom made a fresh peach pie. What a wonderful, fresh meal we had, it was delicious. BUT the friends and family made the meal complete.

 

Posted in Basil, Greens, Herbs, Tomatos, Zucchini & Summer Squash | 1 Comment »

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