Grilled Apple-Smoked Striped Bass

The key to this simple dish, which earned our Test Kitchen's highest rating, is high quality fresh fish. It's served in many of the open-air restaurants of Benin's major city, Cotonou, and is always grilled over a wood fire. Wood chips infuse a similar smoky flavor. You can substitute red snapper, which cooks in about 8 minutes. A fish basket works great, but a perforated sheet of aluminum foil will also let you easily remove the fish from the grill.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 5 ounces)

Ingredients

• 1/4  cup  apple wood chips
• 2  dried habanero chiles
• 1  tablespoon  peanut or vegetable oil
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  (3-pound) striped bass fillet (about 1 inch thick)
• Cooking spray
• 1  lemon, thinly sliced

Preparation

Cover apple wood chips with water, and soak for 1 hour. Drain well.

Place chiles in a spice or coffee grinder; process until finely ground. Place 1/8 teaspoon ground chile in a small bowl (reserve remaining ground chile for another use). Add oil, salt, and black pepper, stirring to combine. Rub spice mixture over fish; refrigerate 30 minutes.

Prepare grill.

Place wood chips on hot coals. Coat a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil with cooking spray; pierce foil several times with a fork. Place foil on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Place fish on foil; arrange lemon slices over fish. Grill 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

229 (24% from fat)

Fat:

6.1g (sat 1.4g,mono 1.7g,poly 2.2g)

Protein:

40.3g

Carbohydrate:

0.8g

Fiber:

0.1g

Cholesterol:

90mg

Iron:

0.7mg

Sodium:

442mg

Calcium:

30mg