Sunday, May 16, 2010

Potato Crusted Halibut with Sauteed Spring Veggies

Hello from FABULOUS New York City!

I'm visiting Cassandra for a few days and the weather is cooperating beautifully. We walked the entire Central Park trail today in the sunshine and it was perfection. Even though we are tired and I'm blistered, we decided to do a Sunday Supper tonight because it's so fun cooking with friends! Here are Cass and I in her adorable kitchen.


We toasted the beautiful evening with a bottle of extremely pale rose.


The recipe we were inspired by is from Anne Burrell but we made so many substitutions that I'll write it how we made it below. This serves 2.



Sauteed Spring Veggies
1 bulb fennel, sliced thin
1 bunch Swiss chard, leaves removed from ribs and both chopped separately
1 bunch spring onions (or ramps), greens removed from white parts and chopped separately
olive oil (we used the leftover infused garlic from the recipe below)
salt and pepper to taste
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
juice of 1 lemon

Heat olive oil and add fennel, chard ribs, and white parts of ramps. Add salt and pepper to taste plus a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Saute over medium heat 5-6 minutes or until soft.

Add chopped greens from chard and ramps plus lemon juice. Cover and steam for 3-4 minutes then remove from heat until ready to serve.


Potato Crusted Halibut
2 halibut filets
1 Russet potato, sliced as thin as possible (preferably on a mandoline)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, smashed
1 sprig fresh thyme
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bring oil, garlic, fennel seeds, and thyme to a boil. Turn off heat and let the flavors infuse into the garlic for a few minutes.

Slice your potato into rounds as thin as possible. Lay them out on a piece of parchment paper overlapping in a 4x6 inch square (they're supposed to look like fish scales).

Brush the potato scales with the olive oil mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add your halibut filet on top of the potatoes and season with more salt and pepper. Use the parchment to wrap the potatoes around the fish. Chill for a few minutes.

Add potato-wrapped fish to a grill pan or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook 4 minutes on each side. Carefully flip (I used a spatula and tongs to do it). Then throw the pan in the oven for 5 minutes.

Serve fish on top of a pile of your spring veggies and ENJOY!

End your meal with some cannolis from the new shop on the block. Pictured here: chocolate banana and frangelico cannolis.

Thank God for good food and thank God for great friends to enjoy it with!

No comments:

Post a Comment