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I was mentally preparing to braise a pork shoulder today when I happened upon Kalofagas this morning. One look at Peter's grouper baked in parchment paper, and my brain said, "now this is what you want!" Lisl and I are both suffering from colds, and the light taste of Mediterranean summer just seemed perfect. Indeed, it was so.
A segue: I'm very picky about the freshness of my fish, and until I find a fishmonger I trust, I tend to stay away. When I lived in San Francisco a decade ago, I would trek out to the Chinese markets in Sunset because the freshness was so superior to the normal supermarkets. We've now been in Rye, NY for two years, but I will admit that it took Peter's post to get me to test out a fish market in Port Chester. The upside is that I was very impressed. One look at the eyes of the whole snappers behind the glass and I knew that they dealt in fresh fish.
Back to this recipe, the amounts here feed two quite nicely. It's a delicious, fast meal to put together, and the ingredients are quite similar to how I like to cook mussels. The below is similar to Peter's recipe, but not identical, so I recommend you check out his blog as well if you haven't already.
Baked Halibut
A 1 lb halibut steak (or filets)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced into rings or half-rings
2 cloves garlic, minced
half a green pepper, chopped
3 campari tomatoes (or a handful of cherry tomatoes)
1/4 cup dry vermouth
pinch of dry basil
several leaves of fresh oregano
lemon
salt and pepper
Pre-heat oven to 400F.
Heat up a splash of olive oil on medium-low heat and saute the onions and garlic for a couple of minutes. Then add in the green pepper, saute for a few minutes. Then add in the vermouth and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Cook for a few more minutes then remove from the heat.
Lay the halibut on a piece of parchment paper that extends several inches past the length-wise ends of the steak. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top, then spoon out the vegetables and liquid on top of the fish. Sprinkle a pinch of dried basil leaves on top, dot a few oregano leaves around, and place two slices of lemon on each end of the steak. Fold the sides of the parchment paper up towards the middle and tuck one over the other and refold a few times to create a seal and get the paper snug with the fish. Twist each end of paper and tie off with kitchen string.
Place on a baking tray. If you have too much parchment paper hanging off the ends to fit in the oven easily, trim with scissor. Bake for 25 minutes. If you have a steak, remove the backbone from the middle, carefully half the fish, and plate. Spoon the delicious broth over the top.
Note: bottom image above is after baking
I kept the below picture of the halibut steak because it interested me. I can't quite put my finger on why; perhaps because it has that grainy, soft-focus, de-saturated look I adore in Orangette's pictures.
P.S. Now that I'm cooking fish again, I have to tackle an interesting but never-attempted technique: baking a whole fish packed in salt.
14 comments:
I saw Peter's post this morning too and now I'm definitely going to have to go pick up some fish for tomorrow!
Beautiful, vibrant colors in your pictures. This recipe is a keeper!
I love that you were so inspired you had to make it right away.
Giff, what a wonderful looking halibut, the packaged fish and ultimately, the dinner surprise inside...I'm hungry again!
I too venture to ethnic fish and seafood stores...if you know your fish & seafood, there are some good catches to be had.
When I was in NYC, I saw lots of good fish at Latino-run shops and lots of whole fish (very good).
Thanks so much for trying and enjoying the dish.
This looks every bit as delicious as Peter's does. What a beautiful way to complement fresh fish! Well done!
I'm always fascinated by baking a whole fish in salt too. Actually, I've never attempted a whole fish of any kind before.
Nice flavors here. Future fish recipe idea for me
Mouth watering recipe, I really like hallibut.
Cheers,
Elra
Hey Giff,
This is very ironic I am finding this recipe today as I made grilled halibut last night. I actually have a recipe for a simple marinade for salmon and I tried it with halibut. It was FANTASTIC. Very easy - 1 cup Orange Juice, 1/2 cup soy sauce, and a generous helping on crushed or minced garlic. Let the fish marinate for 8-12 hours then either grill or bake for normal time. I grilled it on the BBQ at a very high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side and it was amazing. Your recipe looks fantastic - I will have to try it. I still have 2 packages of halibut my father in law brought back from Alaska.
Thanks all :)
Love that orange juice/soy marinade Dan!
Looks amazing Giff ... as I had told Peter in his post on grouper, I adore cooking fish in parchment. The result is so moist and flavorful.
It took me a while to find a good fish monger, but I finally found one in Astoria that I really liked early last year. Only problem is we've now moved from Astoria, albeit not too far, but I don't get the chance to visit that fish monger as often.
Oh this looks so good. We are fortunate to have good fish on the West Coast. But I will be moving back to Ottawa and it will be another story. I love to cook the fish the way you did it. I prefer this to a steak.
Your fish looks absotuley wonderful. I'm glad you're happy with your fresh fish find! I go to chelsea market, and they had better be fresh, because I have to carry them home on the subway and smelly fish on subway is not a good idea!
this looks fantastic! was this more on the tart side because of the sauce?
hmmm interesting question. I would not have called it tart, rather quite the opposite, but with a natural vegetable-based sweetness not a sugary kind.
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