Grilled Fish with Basil Wine Sauce

So I figured I'd contribute to the recipes section by throwing down my whole grilled basil wine sauce fish.  This is a true early summer dish that goes well on a warm evening after catching some fish.  The 3lb smallie served 3 people easily so adjust your sizes to how many people plan on eating appropriately.  This is a recipe that you can make with a number of fish species.  I used a smallmouth bass but a rockfish, spotted bass, a smaller striper, whole bluegills or whatever other type of whitefish would suffice.  Pretty cool if you want to be a little showy to some friends or family instead of the usual ways of cooking the catch. 


Ingredients:            1 whole fish, scaled, spines clipped, gilled and gutted. 
                                1/2 cup of fresh basil
                                1/4 of a white onion
                                1/4 cup WHITE wine (disregard red in photo, it seemed like a good idea, but was too bitter)
                                3/4 cup olive oil
                                1 Teaspoon of dijon mustard
                                1 Teaspoon of sugar
                                salt to taste
                                black pepper to taste



                                 







Sauce  Mix everything together in a blender or food processor for a good minute.  Make sure it's smooth all the way then chill in the fridge.  Add some salt and pepper to taste.  Simple as that. 



Grilled Fish You just scale and gut your fish, then cut the sharp top fins off and cut the gills out using scissors.  Gills give off a bitter flavor that almost tastes a bit smokey/oily to me.  Wash the fish a lot and dry it up with paper towels.  Cut or score fairly deep into the flesh going downwards about 5 times an inch apart to divide the fish into equal parts. This lets it cook equally without that burnt skin, uncooked near the bone mess everyone hates. Rub a lot of salt and olive oil in and all over the fish, coating it very nicely. Throw it all in the grill for 6-8 minutes per side. Be really careful when flipping the fish and try to keep constant pressure while doing so in order to not rip the skin.  Serve with the basil wine sauce by spooning it over the top of the fish.  Eat while it's right off the grill.  And don't forget to eat the cheeks!  Tell me if you guys try it. 

Damn that looks good, I am going to have to try that this weekend !!!!
Jeff

looks good.  Nice smallie