Sea Bass

Try a glass of Rioja and some crusty bread with this lovely autumn dish.

Serve this with a crisp Sauvignon Blanc.

An easy dish that uses some traditional Japanese ingredients, including miso. Made from fermented soybeans, miso paste comes in various shades, with the darker ones being stronger in flavor. This recipe calls for white miso (also called shiro-miso), which is sweeter and more delicate.

Fish from the Mediterranean waters is put to a variety of uses in Tunisian cuisine, and a simple soup such as this one of the most common. It's flavored with an appealing blend of herbs, spices and citrus.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Steamed baby potatoes and a baguette are good partners for the fish. For dessert, spoon sugared raspberries over angel food cake.

This delicious entrée takes just minutes, making it perfect for a quick weekday supper.

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 1/4 hr

Marsha also uses this versatile sauce (based on the Spanish sauce called romesco) as a pasta sauce, as a dip and on garlic toasts as an hors d'oeuvre.

Maison Novelli offers this great entrée. You can find polenta and tapenade at Italian markets and some supermarkets.

Cooking the sea bass in parchment paper is a great technique — it keeps the pistachio topping in place and allows you to brown both the fish and the topping in the skillet (the parchment becomes translucent so you can see the browning. Since Gras is on the West Coast, he likes to use Dungeness crab when he makes this dish. We've substituted jumbo lump crabmeat because it's available year round nationwide.

If Chilean sea bass is unavailable, any sea bass is fine to use. Score the fish on the skin side, so it won't curl.

Colorful salsas and relishes made with fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs became popular in this decade of diets. The toppings are light and fresh and packed with flavor-just right with grilled low-fat fish.

If you would rather use swordfish or sea bass, by all means do. Whatever the choice, grill some zucchini that have been quartered lengthwise, and toss egg noodles with butter and fresh black pepper. Then finish the meal with sliced strawberries topped with sour cream and brown sugar. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.