Fired-Up Striped Bass

with Rice Pilaf and Vegetables

By Chef/Owner Jerry Dicecco Jr.

INGREDIENTS

1 whole striped bass

2 pounds shrimp, colossal-size, peeled and de-veined

1 pint basmati rice

1 quart chicken stock

6 ounces button mushrooms

6 ounces Bermuda onion

1 head cauliflower

2 heads broccoli

1 pound carrots

5 ounces butter

Cajun seasoning (1 part each of smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper,  black pepper, sugar, kosher salt, and oregano)

Olive oil

10 cedar planks

METHOD

Soak cedar planks in salted water overnight. Scale, filet, and debone striped bass. Portion into 8- to 10-oz pieces and score the skin. Remove planks from water and rub olive oil on the top side of the plank. Rub fish and shrimp with a generous amount of Cajun seasoning and place on oiled planks. Place planks on preheated barbecue with flame on high until the planks begin to scorch and smoke. Once smoking, turn the flame down to low and cover the barbecue. Cook fish for 8-10 minutes (depending on thickness) until the fish is cooked through. To test, use a fork and to see if the fish flakes apart easily and the inside is no longer translucent, or use a thermometer and remove fish when an internal temperature of 140 degrees is reached.

Put rice, chicken stock, butter and seasoning into a small sauce pot. Bring to a boil, reduce flame to simmer, and cover. Remove from heat when 90 percent of the liquid is gone. Cook mushrooms and diced onion in butter and season with Cajun spice. Combine cooked mushrooms and onions with rice and hold warm.

Blanch broccoli and cauliflower florets in salted boiling water and rapidly cool down in an ice bath. In a saute pan, gently cook shaved or batton-cut carrots with butter, add in broccoli and cauliflower with a few ounces of water to create a glaze. Cook until vegetables are just tender, but still slightly crunchy.

Place one of the cedar planks holding a piece of striped bass and a few shrimp onto a large square plate. Add portions of rice pilaf and vegetables. Garnish with micro greens, shaved vegetables, grilled lemon or whatever your heart desires.

Buon Appetito!

Jerry Dicecco Jr. is the second-generation owner of Jerry and The Mermaid, a seafood restaurant, on the east end of Long Island. He is a classically trained chef, obtaining his Culinary Arts and Food & Beverage Management degrees from Johnson and Wales University. His education started at his family’s restaurant, Jerry and the Mermaid, learning the craft from his father, Jerry Dicecco Sr. He studied under Chef Lorenzo Polegri in Orvieto, Italy, and worked for world-renowned Chef Daniel Boulud at DB Bistro Moderne in New York.