Striped bass, sauce from its bones, citrus

Sauce

• Bones from one large bass-around 1 lb bones

• 3 shallots-sliced

• 1 large leek-white part only sliced

• 3 ribs celery-sliced

• 3 cloves smashed garlic

• 4 sprigs thyme

• 1 fresh bay leaf

• 1.5 quarts water

• 1 stick butter

• 1 tsp yuzu kosho

• lemon juice to taste

• salt to taste

1. To begin, take your bones and smoke them at around 180f for two hours. Alternatively you can simply roast the bones in the oven at 400f for around 15-20 minutes or until they have nice color all around.

2. Chop up the fish bones to fit in a pot.

3. Preheat a pot over medium heat and add a few tbsp of neutral oil. Once it shimmers add the shallots, leeks, and garlic. Saute for 3 minutes then add the celery and saute an additional 3 minutes.

4. Add the fish bones into the pot and then deglaze with the water. Add the thyme and bay leaf then bring to a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour and walk by to skim any foam once in a while.

5. After 1 hour strain the liquid into a smaller pot. You should have around 1 quart or just shy of a quart. Reduce this liquid down until it tastes very strong. It needs to taste very bold to stand up to the butter.

6. Take 1.5 cups of this liquid and begin blending in the cold butter 1 tbsp at a time. Once all the butter is incorporated, add the yuzu kosho, lemon juice, and salt. Hold this warm or cool immediately in an ice bath for later use. To reheat, warm over very low heat and add a splash of the reserved fish stock to make adjustments.

7. For serving and holding in a restaurant scenario, consider adding a touch of xanthan gum with the butter to prevent it from splitting while being held hot over extended periods.

Scallion curls

• scallions-green tops only.

1. Take the scallion greens and starting from either end, slip the tip of your knife into the hole and slide your knife up the length of the scallion. So you should now have a slit on just one side.

2. Press the scallion down flat, and begin slicing the green on a steep bias. Your pieces of scallion should almost look like wishbones.

3. Plunge the scallions into ice water and they will curl up after around 20 minutes. strain and dry.

4. To serve I dressed them simply with lemon juice