halibut!

[helenas]

I got a nice 2pnd piece of halibut, and i should admit, it's not a fish that i cook on a regular basis, if at all.

So what is the best way to prepare it?

thanks!

[tommy]

start in a pan and finish in the oven.

[Miss J]

If it's very fresh, it's really good with browned butter and sage...

[Andy Lynes]

I do not cook halibut often so I am relying on the advise contained in UK chef Ian McAndrew's book "Feast of Fish". He recommends a cut from the middle as the tail doesn't lend itself to many recipes. He says that cooking on the bone will help to keep the flesh moist as it tends to dry out. He includes recipes for the fish, poached, grilled (under a salamander, not in a grill pan) and oven roasted as Tommy suggests. He accompanies a poached fillet with a salad of white beans, grilled with sweet pepper cream and tapenade, and the roasted fillet with a mussel, spring onion and marjoram broth.

I think it would go well with Simon Hopkinson's saffron mash recipe, perhaps served with some aioli. A leek puree or risotto of leek would also be nice. Spinach and hollandaise go well with any meaty fish I think. Dare I suggest my own recipe for braised cod (click here) simply substituting your halibut.

[tommy]

i had some success of few weeks ago with a method that i had never tried before.

thiny sliced lemon.

garlic

capers

olive oil

s/p

fresh herb (chervil and other mild and delicate herbs might work)

anything else you want.

wrap all together with the fish in tin foil, sealing tightly.  put on grill or in oven for 10 minutes.  the product will be moist and delicious, and basically makes its own sauce.

[helenas]

Both Bittman and Traunfeld (Herbfarm) have recipes for roasting halibut in apple cider.

[Liza]

I have the Traunfeld book and look at it admiringly all the time, and have yet to make a recipe. But now that spring is here, and summer approacheth, perhaps this halibut thread will make me crack it open again.

EDIT: I've always wanted to try his green gazpacho..

[mamster]

I've had good luck with a Bittman recipe for halibut with curry powder and lime.  Rub a filet or steak with salt and homemade or good store-bought curry powder, saute in vegetable oil (keeping the heat moderate so the spices don't burn before the fish is done, or finish in the oven), then deglaze the pan with a squeeze of lime juice and pour over the fish.

One time when my mom was out of town, I went over to my parents' house and cooked for my dad.  I brought my jar of Penzey's Madras curry powder and got a halibut fillet and a lime on the way.  He was pretty impressed that I was able to create dinner with sauce from these ingredients.

[mamster]

It occurs to me that I have a halibut-related question, too.  Several sources that I've read (such as Bittman and, I think, James Peterson) say that because halibut is so easy to dry out, they prefer wet cooking methods like poaching or steaming.  It's true that halibut is easy to dry out, but I've tried poaching it a couple of times, once in a very strong soy sauce blend, and it came out the essence of insipid--mushy fish poorly integrated with the sauce.  Is this just a preference, or might I have erred at some point in the process?

[tommy]

It's true that halibut is easy to dry out, but I've tried poaching it a couple of times, once in a very strong soy sauce blend, and it came out the essence of insipid--mushy fish poorly integrated with the sauce.

another reason to try the tin foil method.  

[Priscilla]

I've been pondering since you posted this, Helena, whether it is Pacific halibut or not and whether that would make a tremendous difference anyway.

The halibut I buy, over here on the Left Coast of the U.S., is Pacific, and is so good.  Mamster, especially up there, I assume you're working with Pacific, too?  Am I misremembering or is halibut what Ivar's uses for fish & chips?

A nice 2-pound piece  is the sort of thing we would season and put on the grill, but is actually roasted, with the cover on after stripes are branded, the heat controlled (might go indirect, for instance, if it is too hot in there), and turned only once, or not at all if it's not too thick.

Sometimes I make a strawberry beurre blanc for halibut cooked this way, as strawberry and halibut seasons coincide, at least where I am.  And in fact, earlier-season slightly less-ripe strawberries are better for this on acount of their acid.  I cook them down with maybe tarragon vinegar or whatever, seasoning, and proceed with the butter addition as per usual.

And Helena, I wonder if you ever make the savory pies, hello Jinmyo, of your homeland.  If you do any halibut planned-overs are really good for the rice-egg-fish version, I have found.

Priscilla

[mamster]

Yes, I get fresh Alaskan halibut, which is available most of the year in Seattle.  Is east coast halibut a different species?

[helenas]

And Helena, I wonder if you ever make the savory pies, hello Jinmyo, of your homeland.  If you do any halibut planned-overs are really good for the rice-egg-fish version, I have found.

Priscilla,

i do make savory pies of my homeland, but usually with salmon. And in those cases when i cooked with halibut, it was Pepin's stuffed bread, or seafood bisteeya

[Blue Heron]

I second tommy's recommendation/recipe.  You could also add chopped basil and chopped tomatoes to it, and that would also be delicious.

[Jaymes]

In Alaska, where I lived for several years, halibut is extremely popular.  In fact, most Alaskans, sheepishly and only when pressed on the subject, and almost to this exact wording say:  "You know, I kind of hate to say this, but I really kind of think that I almost like halibut better than salmon."  They believe they're being disloyal to their most famous and prized fish, so they have a hard time admitting their preferences.

You cannot go anywhere in Alaska without finding halibut on the menu.  At parties, there will be a whole one steamed or baked, served on a large platter, surrounded by lemon slices.  You help yourself...tearing off bits with a fork and putting it on crackers.  Of course, there is always an adjacent salmon prepared and served exactly the same way.  I had a once had a friend tell me, while we were standing at a buffet table in front of these two big fish, "I am getting sick of being served fish every where I go.  I'm starting to feel like someone's really big housecat."

In restaurants, there is also always halibut...most often cut into chunks about 2" x 2", breaded and deep fried.  Biting into one of those pieces of tender pure-white meat is like biting into a cloud.