Sea Bass

This is a simple but elegant dish with wonderful flavor. Unfortunately, Chilean Sea Bass is terribly over-fished and the population in the South Pacific is threatened with extinction. The Chilean Sea Bass is not technically a bass at all and was tagged with this name to overcome the fact that it's actually a rather prehistoric looking fish called "Toothfish." Alternative choices are black cod, grouper or hake.

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 (6-oz) fillets Chilean sea bass, black sea bass or striped bass, skin removed
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon tri-color pepper, freshly ground
2 Meyer lemons, sliced thin slices
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
20 cherry or grape tomatoes
2 tablespoons drained bottled capers

Pat fish dry and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Place olive oil and sliced garlic into a 12" skillet. Heat over a medium heat until aromatic. Cook another 5 minutes, careful not to burn the garlic. Remove and discard garlic, but retain the oil.

Cut the tomatoes in halves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Immediately arrange the lemon slices in the skillet, covering the entire bottom, and place tomatoes and capers around the edge of the skillet (see photo). Quickly place the fish over the lemon slices and sprinkle with thyme. Cover the skillet with a tight fitting lid and cook the fish on a fairly high heat for 6 -8 minutes.

Spoon the tomatoes, caper and lemons, with the pan juices, over the fish. Serve the fish on a warm plate with a green vegetable (green beans, asparagus, broccoli, etc.) and small red or heirloom potatoes.