Grilled Maryland Bluefish with Bacon-Tomato Butter

Barton Seaver

Ingredients

Serves 4

    3 tablespoons butter
2 strips bacon, chopped
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
Salt
Four 5-ounce portions skin-on Maryland bluefish fillet

Directions

The flavored butter can be made in a larger batch and stored in the refrigerator for many weeks (let it soften a bit before using it)—try it on steak or as a garnish for soups.

For the flavored butter, add 1 tablespoon of the butter and the bacon to a small sauté pan. Cook over medium heat until the bacon fat is mostly rendered and the meat is beginning to crisp. Add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes, until the juices begin to release and the tomatoes break down. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and mash together using a fork. This butter shouldn’t melt but rather form a paste with the tomatoes. Season lightly with salt.

Prepare a grill, charcoal or gas, building the fire on one side of the grill so there are hot and cold zones. Put the MD bluefish on the hottest part of the grill and cook for 2 minutes, skin side down. Rotate the grate so the fish is over the cool part of the grill and cover the grill. Grill until cooked through, about another 10 minutes.

Set a fillet on each of 4 serving plates, place a dollop of the flavored butter on top of each, and serve.