Wild Orata and Roasted Asparagus

As I expand my culinary knowledge, I look to those around me for help. For right now, the people I'm around 50+ hours a week are my co-workers at Esca. I am constantly asking our current Chef d'Cuisine for advice and easy techniques I can practice and master at home. Also, part of my job is being able to answer the most obscure questions guest might have about the food. For example, "Is there any garlic in the preparation of the whole fish? I'm extremely allergic to garlic." or "How exactly does the Chef prepare this fish? I would love to try it at home." Maybe these aren't the best examples, but I need to know the ins and outs of all our dishes. For that reason, I have become extremely interested in preparing whole fish - something that is on our menu daily.

One fish we have 80% of the time is an Orata or Mediterranean Sea Bream. It is a mild fish that is a little denser, meatier and less sweet than a Cod (for all you folks in Maine). I didn't have to work tonight and spent all day fileting Orata so I figured I'd come home and try roasting one for myself. I went to the fish market on 40th and 9th (by far one of the best in the city) and had the fish guy scale and gut a small Orata.

The nice thing about whole fish is that it has the head and bones in so it adds a ton of flavor. All you have to do to season it is put a little salt, pepper, lemon, garlic and rosemary in the cavity and you're ready to go. Here is a picture of tonight ingredients (I'm doing roasted asparagus with Parmegiano Reggiano as the side).

As you can see, an Esca-esc dish only takes 9 ingredients - most of which you should always have on hand anyways. The only purchases needed are the fresh fish (and any fish would work really), some good cheese and the veggie of your choice.

My ingredients included:

- 1 whole Orata (about 3/4 pound)

- 1 lemon, thinly sliced

- 3 cloves of garlic

- 10 spears of asparagus per person

- 1 large sprig of rosemary

- Salt and pepper for seasoning

- Olive oil (I use Primo which is what we use at Esca to finish off our whole fish dishes)

- Parmegiano Reggiano to shave on the roasted asparagus

The first thing you need to do is oil a sheet pan with some olive oil (I use off the shelf extra virgin olive oil) and place the whole fish in the middle (see below).

Next you want to stuff the cavity so the flesh can absorb as much flavor as possible while roasting. It might be hard to see, but the picture below shows the fish stuffed to the brim. First, sprinkle the inside liberally with salt and pepper. The cavity isn't huge and you want the flavor to get all over the inside so I slice the lemon as thinly as possible (thank you good knives!), rip the rosemary off the stem so it is in small pieces and crush two or three cloves of garlic so they are also as thin as possible. Layer all the aromatics in the fish starting with lemon on the bottom, then some garlic and rosemary and finishing with lemon on top (a lemon sandwich inside the fish).

At this point, pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Cover the fish in olive oil, more salt and pepper and put it aside until the oven is ready. Next is the roasted asparagus. I bought a bundle from the Westside Market yesterday so I'm cooking it all at once. Cut the bottoms of the asparagus off and lay them flat in a sheet pan. Cover in olive oil, salt and pepper. Shake the pan back and forth (carefully) in order to cover the entire asparagus in the oil and seasoning.

Once the oven is preheated put both sheet pans inside. The fish should be on top with that shelf in the middle. The asparagus can go right below. Cook for for 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven and its calibration).

And the finished product right out of the oven and on a serving platter. The meal is delicious, is sure to impress dinner guests and is so easy and fast, I just wrote this blog in the 30 minutes the two dishes were in the oven :)

The only thing left to do is filet the fish to remove bones before eating or to just tackle the fish and make sure you chew slowly so you can catch any bones before you swallow them. Enjoy!

(Sorry for not writing a step by step recipe. Hopefully, this is easy to follow... If not, leave a comment and I can write it out step-by-step. I just need to run because my fish is getting cold!)