Chilean Sea Bass with Cauliflower Polenta and Asparagus

I got my hands on some really fancy totally awesome Chilean Sea Bass (courtesy of Merrill Lynch) this weekend and I wanted to use it as the centerpiece of a great meal. I cooked with the fish with an Asian-ish marinade and paired it with a polenta side dish I whipped up on the spot and a few stalks of braised asparagus. It came out pretty well, although the polenta needed a lot more salt and the fish marinade could have used a lot less mirin (turns out mirin can be cloyingly sweet.) The meal was a wild carnival of tastes, textures and colors!

First the recipe for the sea bass marinade (adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe)
-1 tablespoon of miso (white or red)
-1/2 tablespoon of mirin
-1 tablespoon of soy sauce
-juice from one lemon
-2 dollops of yellow mustard

Whisk all the ingredients together, pour over the fish and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes
Would probably work well with salmon as well.

Now, the recipe for my very own baked cauliflower polenta:
-1/2 head of cauliflower, cut up into small florets
-2 cloves of garlic, sliced into large pieces
-1/2 cup of course corn meal
-1 1/2 cup of water
-salt
-generous amount of parmesan cheese
-optional: shredded sharp cheese, like a gruyere or something

- mix the garlic and cauliflower and steam for about 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower is soft
using a potato masher, mash up the cauliflower into small bits, stir in a pinch few pinches of salt
- bring water to a boil, add the corn meal and cook for about 8 minutes (you might have to add more water if the polenta is starting to look really thick and dry)
- combine the mashed cauliflower, polenta, parmesan, generous amounts of salt and the optional sharp cheese
- transfer the mixture into 4 greased ramekins (if you don't have any ramekins, a small baking pan will probably work)
- bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes

Turn the ramekin upside down onto your plate and voila you have the cutest little mound of baked polenta!