food comas

Halibut is a fairly dense fish with a firm texture, which allows it to stand up well to the heat.  Thus, halibut is an ideal fish for pan-roasting, grilling, broiling, or deep frying.  This white fish has a very clean taste and requires very little seasoning.  Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home recipe for Pan-Roasted Halibut keeps it simple — the fish is only seasoned with salt and then pan-roasted in canola oil.  Total cooking time is about 10 minutes!

This white fish is beautiful to pair with a vibrantly colorful side dish, such as Rainbow Chard with Raisins, Pine Nuts, and Serrano Ham or Green Pea Shoots with Chanterelle Mushrooms.

Pan-Roasted Halibut (from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home)

Yields: 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs halibut filet, cut into 6 rectangular pieces
• Kosher salt
• Canola oil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Fleur de sel
  

Directions:

Remove the fish from the refrigerator and let stand for 15 minutes.

Position over racks in the lower and upper thirds of the over and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Check the halibut to be sure all bones were removed.  Season both sides with salt.

Add some canola oil to a large ovenproof frying pan and heat over high heat until it simmers.  Add the halibut to the pan, presentation (nicer) side down, lower the heat to medium-high, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the bottom of the fish is golden.  Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 2 more minutes.

Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 2 minutes, until just cooked through.  (I actually wasn’t sure whether my frying pan was oven proof so I transferred the fish back and forth to a foil-lined baking pan just to be safe!)

Remove the pan from the oven, flip the fish over, and “kiss” the second side for about 30 seconds.

Transfer to a platter and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of fleur de sel.

Serving the halibut with some vivid green vegetables will make this dish very visually appealing.  I decided to serve it with some colorful Rainbow Chard with Raisins, Pine Nuts, and Serrano Ham.