Whole baked gilt-head bream with Clemengold clementines and thyme butter
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Recipe type: Fish, main course, entree
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
Gilthead bream is one of the tastiest and most sought-after members of the bream family. This sweet citrus and herby butter make for an easy yet moist and flavourful dish.
Ingredients
  • 2 whole gilt-head bream, scaled, gutted and cleaned
  • 30g butter, softened
  • 2 tsp dried thyme leaves
  • zest from 1 Clemengold (or use any clementine)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 whole Clemengold, sliced into thin slices (or use any clementine)
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
  2. In a small bowl, mix the butter, thyme, zest, salt and pepper.
  3. Rinse the fish inside and out and pat dry with paper towels.  I usually enlarge the body cavity slightly by slicing it open a little more towards the tail, to make more room for stuffing.  Make 2 slashes in the skin of both sides the fish, being careful not to slice the flesh if you can.
  4. Sprinkle the fish inside and out with a little salt, then generously spread butter inside the body cavity of each. Place half the Clemengold slices in body cavity of each fish.
  5. Lightly oil a piece of aluminium foil large enough to wrap one fish. Place the fish on the foil and wrap up so that it is sealed.  Repeat with the second fish.
  6. Bake at 180C for about 20 minutes. I forgot, but at the end of 20 minutes, open the foil parcels, turn the grill onto high and return the fish to the oven for a few minutes - just until beginning to brown.
  7. Serve immediately, with a creamy, lemony Chardonnay and topepd with any of the butter that might be left over.
Recipe by Cooksister | Food, Travel, Photography at https://www.cooksister.com/2012/09/whole-baked-gilt-head-bream-with-clemengold-clementines-and-thyme-butter.html