Baked Whole Fish ( With Microwave Method Too)

Wild Thyme Flour's Note:

This is more like instructions rather than a recipe . Unless you want to eat the fish skin, you don't have to remove the scales. Once cooked the scales will come off with the skin. Leaving the scales on will help prevent the fish from drying out. Cooking times in the recipe.

• Total Time: 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

• 1 whole fish (sea bream, see bass etc.)
• salt and pepper
• sage
• bay leaf
• rosemary
• parsley
• 1 garlic clove , unpeeled but crushed
• olive oil
• 1⁄3; cup white wine , heated
• 1 lemon

Directions:

1. Remove the guts and gills from the fish, This is done by making an incision the whole lenght of the abdomen and up to the mouth.
2. Grab the gills and pull out, the intesitnes should come out stuck to the gills. If not remove them seperately.
3. Unless you are going to eat the skin or you will be placing the fish on a bed of potatoes, LEAVE the scales on. The fish remains much more moist and when the fish is cooked the skin with the scales still attached to it will come off beautifully.
4. PREHEAT oven to 200°C.
5. Wash the fish inside and out and dry with a paper towel. Season the inside with salt and pepper. Place a a bayleaf, some sage, the crushed garlic clove and rosemary in the cavity.
6. Place the fish in a shallow ovenproof dish that has been greased well with olive oil. Season the both exterior sides of the fish.
7. Take a small piece of foil and cover the tail so that it won't get burned .
8. Chop some sage, rosemary and parsely finely then add 1/2 tsp lemon zest, add a tbsp olive oil to the mixture.
9. Drizzle the fish with the juice of half a lemon, then place the herb and olive oil mixture on the fish.
10. Bake for 18 minutes for a 600g fish bake it for a further 3 minutes for each 100g extra that it weighs. ( eg: 800g fish= 24 minutes).
11. Half way through cooking pour the hot wine on the fish then continue baking, basting a couple of times with the liquid on the bottom of the pan.
12. MICROWAVE: Follow all the instructions but do not cover the tail with foil, do not add salt ( season with salt only when cooked) and add the wine from the begining not midway. Cover with microwave safe plastic wrap, make a few holes in the plastic and cook for 8 minutes at 1000W.
13. The fish is done when the flesh comes away cleanly from the bone .