Earlier this year Karis and I made preserved lemons. There are hundreds of uses for them; for this recipe I used them with grilled Branzino. Some may be intimidated by grilling a whole fish, but I say fear not. It’s actually a lot easier than you think and yields an amazing result. I also have an abundance of Sorrel growing in the garden and made a mayonnaise to go along with it. With the additional use of these delicious preserved lemons and the lemony green tang of Sorrel, a dish that I have made numerous times before took on a new and glamorous flavor profile.
Branzino with the rinds on the outside and stuffed with the flesh of the preserved lemons, parsley and thyme.
Grill the asparagus right after you dump the coals. At this point the coals will be too hot to cook the fish but fine for the asparagus if you keep a close eye on them.
Branzino with Preserved Lemon
Serves 4
You'll need kitchen twine
Ingredients
4 Branzino, kept whole, cleaned and gutted
2 preserved lemons
12 sprigs of thyme
4 sprigs of parsley
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
Instructions
Lightly salt, and pepper the inside of the fish. Do not over salt the fish as the preserved lemons are salty themselves.
Rinse the preserved lemons and separate the rinds from the flesh.
Place the flesh inside the cavity of the fish along with 3 sprigs of thyme and 1 sprig of parsley.
Use kitchen twine to tie the fish and under each tie place a small piece of the preserved lemon rind.
Brush the outside of the fish with olive oil and lightly salt and pepper.
Place on prepared grill while the coals are red hot. and leave on undisturbed for 4 minutes. If you try to move too early the skin can stick, it should pull away easily. Flip and cook another 4 minutes until done.
Serve with Sorrel Mayonnaise
Sorrel Mayonnaise
1 cup
Ingredients
1/2 cup packed fresh Sorrel, stems removed
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cold water
¾ cup sunflower oil
Instructions
In a blender add the fresh Sorrel, egg yolk, lemon juice, mustard, salt and 1 teaspoon cold water until frothy.
In a slow stream slowly dribble in the oil until mayonnaise is thick and oil is incorporated.
When the mayonnaise emulsifies and starts to thicken, you can add the oil in a thin stream, instead of drop by drop.
Notes
If the mayonnaise breaks, take it out of the blender and put in bowl and add another teaspoon of cold water and whisk it together by hand.
