Mediterranean Style Oven Baked Sea Bream
I always check to see if the fish guy did a good job cleaning the fish and the scales mostly around the head and under the gills cover.
The best technique to check and scale the fish is to go over the fish with a knife from the tail toward the head. the blade needs to be almost parallel to the fish body with only a slight angle.
Wash the fish and pat it dry with a paper towel.
Heat oven to 180C/356F.
Cut one of the lemons to half on its long side. cut the lemon into 2-3 millimeter slices.
Squeeze the other lemon and place the juice in a bowl. add the olive oil, garlic, salt, and black pepper. mix well.
Brush the belly of the fish with the oil mixture.
Take few springs of parsley, a spring of thyme and 2 slices of lemon and stuff them into the fish belly. fill all the other fishes the same way.
Place the fishes on a baking tray. brush the fishes with the oil mixture. It is important to sink the brush into the bottom of the bowl when brushing the fishes because all the garlic and spices sink to the bottom of the bowl. this way we ensure the fishes get well spiced.
Flip the fishes and brush the other side the same way.
Roughly chop some parsley leaves.
Spread on the fishes some chopped parsley, spring of thyme and slice of lemon.
Bake the fishes for exactly 21 minutes and they are ready.
The fishes go well with white rice, potato gratin or baked vegetables.
Bon appetite.
A simple technique to check if the fish is ready is to stab it in the head area with a fork. if the meat is white and falls apart easily the fish is ready.