Chilean Sea Bass

with Pan seared honeydew, duck prosciutto, and midori sauce

Prosciutto e Melone is a classic Italian appetizer. Sweet ripe melon draped with paper thin slices of salty cured ham. The flavors just dance on the tongue and awaken your palate for whatever dish is coming next.

That is…unless you don’t eat ham.

But…and it’s a very big but…it’s easy to achieve the same effect by salt curing duck breast.

That’s right, Kosher Prosciutto e Melone

In this dish, I’ve paired rich, buttery Chilean Sea Bass with pan seared slices of honeydew seasoned with ginger and lime, and topped it off with succulent, salty and chewy duck prosciutto. It seemed to me that the perfect sauce would be one that accentuated the flavors already present without overpowering them. Midori, the bright green melon liqueur from Japan came instantly to mind. And, since it’s Japanese, it seemed right to season the sauce with the Japanese flavors of ginger, mirin, and rice vinegar.

iiffoowith will take your gustatory experience to fabulous in one ecstatic mouthful. Serve small portions as a first course, or larger portions for an entrée.

Ingredients:

For the Fish:

Chilean Sea Bass Portions, as many as you need for the number of people you’re serving—3 ounces per person as a first course, or 6 ounces each as a main course

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and smashed with the heel of your hand or the flat side of a chef’s knife

avocado oil, or other high smoke-point fruit or nut oil, as needed

thin, crescent moon slices of ripe honeydew, shell and seeds removed

fresh lime

duck prosciutto, 1—2 slices per portion

For the Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter or plant butter, such as Earth Balance

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons flour

½ cup Midori liqueur

1 cup stock—chicken or fish

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

2 teaspoons tamari or soy sauce

1 tablespoon mirin

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

chopped cilantro for garnish