Bronzini (Whole Fish)

When we were recently in Italy one of the fish that was very popular was Branzini or Bronzini it goes by both names. We were shopping at Wegmans in Fairfax last weekend and they had several whole fish available celebrating Italy. The fish man Steven was totally awesome and walked us through the entire cooking process and how to get to the filet and make a quick pan sauce. It was very good and a fun adventurous new cooking style for us. 

Here is a little info from the web about this fish. Harvested from the waters around the Mediterranean, this species of fish has a shiny silver skin that is consistent in color throughout its body. Similar in appearance, size and preparation to a medium size trout, the Bronzini is served as a whole fish with the head on. It is commonly available weighing from 2 to 3 pounds in size. Often referred to as a Mediterranean Sea Bass, this fish can be easily prepared using olive oil and seasonings such as garlic, various herbs, sea salt and pepper to be roasted in an oven, on a stovetop or grilled. The sweet-flavored, semi-firm white meat of the Bronzini tastes somewhat like a red snapper.

 Preheat oven and an oven safe pan to 375. Place whole fish onto a dry preheated oven safe fry pan

 Cook 12-15 minutes and this is what it looks like above- I did put some sprigs of fresh thyme in the fish before cooking.

 All the work on the fish is now done with 2 forks (by Kevin) Snap the tail off first

 Now with fork behind front gill fin snap off head

 Remove the top fin next with the forks to allow you to skin it next

 Lift the skin on the top from the tale first and it just peels away

 You can then lift off the fillet from the spine -we used a small flipper as well

 Next I know this looks messy it was a bit --lift off the spine and you now can lift off the bottom fillet from the skin

 This was all the meat -be cautious as there will be a few bones and we scraped off the skin on the bottom of pan. Transfer your fish filet to serving plates

 In same pan on stovetop--saute a minced shallot and garlic clove in EVOO until soft

 Next deglaze pan with white wine and reduce slightly

 I added in some fresh parsley and a tablespoon of butter

 Here it is plated--a very nice fish and simple sauce- BIG THANK YOU to Steven my new fish man at Wegmans!