Black Sea Bass??? Sauce ideas and cooking techniques

I'd salt-bake it, and serve it with salsa verde or beurre blanc, or any other variations. Come to think of it, I think you may not even need any sauce since the fish will be so juicy. Maybe a salad or any kind of starch, if you want, is all you need.

if you pan sear it i would choose a lemon or some type of herb beurre blanc. the lemon cuts through the fatty fish and adding a basil pesto the beurre blanc gives it a nice color and has a great peppery taste to it.

you could also olive oil poach it in which case i would use a nice citrus vinegrette like orange and mint with the segments.

to me grilling ruins the fish but if you did i would do something with demi glace.

baking i would use a herb oil.... lots of options....

A great piece of fish. Very versatile and can be prepared in many ways. I like mine an sauteed just served with a lime butter, and some chopped capers.and fresh diced tomato.

I'm really partial to Eric Ripart's classic Black Bass With Port Wine, and would make it that way.

As Ed notes, it's a very versitile fish. But I believe the very last thing I'd do is bread and fry it. Not when there are so many other great approaches.

I would not bread and fry it either just saute lightly.

Since it's summer I'd keep it light and fresh rather than douse it with a heavy butter sauce.  I would pan sear it, then serve it with a red pepper salsa, some ratatouille and steamed rice.

One of he most difficult fish to debone is Chilian Sea Bass. Bones run in every different direction.

Can anyone recommend a good Fish cookery/Butchering book?

There are several good ones. I usually recommend Kenn Oberrecht's Fish & Shellfish Care & Cookery as a good learning tool. It was published in 1997, and might be out of print. But, if so, I'm sure you can find used copies.

What makes it particularly good is the abundance of step-by-step how-to photo sequences.

I had a great dish at a very good restaurant a few weeks ago - it wasn't bass but the same idea is applicable.

The fillets were wrapped in a few layers of cabbage leaf, placed on the grill and allowed to steam inside the leaves for a short while. The result was remarkable. Don't forget to remove the charred outer layer of cabbage.

Accompaniments I would suggest are a herb puree based on whatever is in season where you are and would match, plus a little citrus and butter.