Sea Bass with Almond Crust

This is NOT one of our regularly scheduled recipes . . . just something I'd like to share. I don't know if any of you are into making whole fish, but last night I made some for my husband and I that was very nice. Would be nice to make (and so easy--no mess, hardly any chopping) for dinner guests. I adapted the recipe from Mediterranean Food of the Sun, by Clark and Farrow.

FOR 4 people use about 3 1/2 pounds sea bass, total weight (either one large or two smaller fish), cleaned and scaled with head and tail still on
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 powdered sugar
2 Tbsp melted butter + 1/4 more
1 onion finely sliced
generous pinch of saffron threads
Salt and black pepper
Lime wedges and sprigs of flat leaf parsley to garnish

Oven at 375. Grease shallow ovenproof dish with butter. Dish should be big enough to fit the whole fish.
Dissolve saffron threads in 1 Tbsp boiling water, set aside.
Make a paste of almonds, cinnamon, powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp melted butter, 4 Tbsp water.
You can use whole blanched almonds and throw all this in a food processor together. But alas, I have no food processor and opted to buy the almonds already ground and just mix it up.
Rinse the fish with cold water and pat dry.
Scatter onions on the bottom of the dish, add the saffron threads and water, season with salt and pepper.
Stuff fish with half the almond paste and spread the rest evenly on top of the fish. Melt remaining butter and pour over fish. Then bake, uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes, until the fish is done and the almond top is crusty.
Move fish to a serving platter. Arrange onion mixture around the edges and garnish with parsley sprigs and lime wedges.

I also made fried calamari rings at home for the first time (I am in a momentary seafood frenzy). Delicious! But the worst thing you can do is overcook them. Then they become rubbery, so beware! After we gobbled them up I realized I didn't even get a picture. Bummer.
Finally, I'd like to say . . . you all have children. I can see how I am out of touch, and this would not be "ideal" for a family dinner. Fish bones, protests about the head and tail, etc. . . . hahahaha. But, like I said . . . it could be good for a dinner party *sans* children. If nothing else, I hope you'll find the post interesting. Happy cooking, ladies!