Last night I came back from a two-day meeting and was in the mood for some fish. The baquetta sea bass sounded really good, as did some eastern littleneck clams. I looked at what was in the fridge to see how I would put it together, and came up with the recipe below. I roasted a sweet orange bell pepper, carrot & onion, and reduced them in some heavy cream. I steamed the littlenecks in some beer, removed the meat, and put them into the roasted vegetable sauce once it was pureed, and man it was good. I never knew it, but the baquetta bass cooked up a bit tough, and cut similar to how a beef filet would. It was a very hearty fish, but delicious. As always, any white flesh fish can be used for this recipe. The key is good seasoning, and using simple cooking techniques. This one takes a bit of work and some planning.

Herb Paneed Sea Bass

with Roasted Vegetable Cream Sauce & Clams

Yield 4

24 oz. Baquetta Sea Bass

1 Egg

2 oz. milk

1/4 cup Flour

Weber Seasoned Salt Mix(or just S&P)

2 Cups Italian Bread Crumbs

Cut four, five- to six-ounce pieces of sea bass, season with the seasoned salt. Mix the egg, milk & flour together to make a batter. Lightly cover each fillet with the egg batter and then cover with Italian bread crumbs. Keep prepared filets on a plate, ready to go, on the counter top.

24 ea. Eastern Littleneck Clams

6 oz. Beer

Steam the clams open, remove the meat and put in a small bowl. Hold on counter, next to fish fillets.

1 ea. Red or Orange Sweet Bell Pepper, slice all four sides off

1/2 ea. Yellow Onion, Peeled, Thick Sliced

1 ea. Ripe Tomato, cut in half, deseeded

Weber Seasoned Salt Mix

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

4 ozs Italian Dressing

Mix all vegetables in Italian dressing and season with some seasoned salt. Heat up grill and roast the vegetables until soft and charred. Put back in mixing bowl. Pour the charred vegetables, with the dressing marinade, into a sauce pan with 4 ozs. of heavy cream. Simmer the mix, until the cream is 50% reduced. Remove from heat & puree with a hand immersion blender, or anything you have to puree the vegetables until smooth. Add the cooked clams and you now have your roasted vegetable Sauce.

Far East Rice Pilaf Mix

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

Prepare the rice pilaf according to the instructions on the box. When rice is almost done, start to cook the sea bass by heating up the vegetable oil in a sauce pan to medium heat. Place the breaded fish in the pan and gently cook for 8-10 minutes. The fish will slowly brown up and gently cook all the way through. Using an electronic thermometer, make sure the fish hits 145-150 degrees, and then remove from the pan. Spoon a bit of rice in the center of the plate, then top with the sea bass and then ladle some sauce around it making sure everyone gets a share of the clams.