This recipe came together over a day. I ended up having all the ingredients on hand, and it worked out very nicely.
Ingredients
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Salt and pepper
Hefty pinch of Cayenne pepper
1/2 shallot, peeled and minced
1/2- 1 tsp. saffron threads
Juice of 1/2 blood orange, or to taste
2 halibut fillets
1 Tbs butter + 1 Tbs olive oil
In a small bowl, with a fork whisk yogurt together with salt, Cayenne and shallot. Rub saffron between your fingers to crush it, then stir it into the yogurt mixture. Let sit for about 20 minutes . Before cooking the fish, add the blood orange juice, taste, and adjust seasoning.
Season halibut with salt and more Cayenne, (if you don’t like spicy, replace with white pepper or cracked ground pepper). Place butter and olive oil in large nonstick skillet and turn heat to medium high. When the butter melts, add fish, sear for about 4 minutes then turn. Continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes until done.
Serve fish warm or room temperature, with the yogurt sauce on top. Add extra Saffron or Cayenne , if you wish.
I served this over wild rice and riced cauliflower along some farm fresh roasted carrots.
I used to make a few new recipes a week including one elaborate dinner because it was fun for me to lose myself in the kitchen. Then I got pregnant, then I was on bedrest and then I had a newborn. To say I was stuck in a rut when it came to dinner was an understatement. I forced myself to start making the recipes I was pinning on Pinterest (because I have over 1,000) and to start opening the stack of cookbooks I have in the pantry, I wasn’t lacking ideas.
I will admit that sometimes by the end of cooking I am juggling a crying baby, a hungry 3 year old and I am cursing myself for making the stupid dish but after it’s done, I am always happy I did. I rarely remember to take a photo of the final product to share so you will have to check out the original recipe to see what most of them look like. All of these I am sharing turned out great, some the husband didn’t love as much as I did but don’t let that stop you.
Here are some ideas if you are in a dinner rut like I was.
Caramelized Onion Tart with Gorgonzola and Brie– This is not the healthiest so probably better to serve to some friends as an appetizer with wine. The picture is crappy but i promise it is good.
Piadini Caprese– I made the flatbread from scratch, there is a recipe on the original page. The only thing I didn’t use in the sandwich was arugula and I regretted it, everything is always better with arugula.
I forgot to take a picture before i closed it up so I reopened it, looks a mess.
Halibut with Crispy Capers and lemon– We l.o.v.e fish piccata and I thought this would be a fun new twist on the original recipe. I loved this because the crispness of the the capers pared perfectly with the soft fish. Husband thought they lost some of their flavor so you know how that ends. Worth the extra effort in my opinion, at least for a change.
French Onion Soup– This was good and pretty darn easy. The flavor wasn’t as deep as some that I have had but for the first time making it, I was impressed. Even better the next day.
Pad Thai Salad– This was really good. Not really at all like Pad Thai, more like a deconstructed Vietnamese spring roll. You’ll need a spirilizer for this and although I have the Vegetti, it didn’t work great with the cucumber. I will make this again and again once I get myself the Paderno.
Bourbon Maple Glazed Chicken Wings– Holy finger licking good, I loved these. The husband thought the bourbon took over the flavor of the wings. I can sort of agree that the bourbon flavor was a tad strong and it might just have been the bourbon I used but I will definitely make these again.
I don’t know when I decided that I liked capers but it must have happened somewhere in my 20s. Now, I like them in all the food. I had them for the first time in a chicken salad sandwich with grapes, brilliant idea.
I struggled with what to make this month. Not that I can’t come up with a delicious recipe I haven’t tried, that is not a problem. I wanted one that wouldn’t have me in the kitchen all day or packing on the LBs. I figured I should throw in some healthier recipes every few months as I’m not getting any skinnier here in the next 5 months…know what I’m saying?
Since it’s now summer in San Diego I decided on a fish dish, a sweet and salty fish dish. I came across this recipe when I googled “halibut recipes”, wow she is so clever. I followed the recipe more for the ingredients and used my own sense of time. I find that when cooking fish it’s best to trust your own knowledge rather than some stranger on the internet.
This dish was really good and it will now go on rotation.
Halibut with Caper Butter and Kale
2 Halibut steaks
Olive oil
1 Tbs. Butter
2 onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 Tbs. sherry vinegar
1 head kale, chopped
2 Tbs. Capers
Season the halibut with a little salt and cook in a hot oiled pan. Cook quickly until golden brown on each side, but do not cook it all the way through. Add a little more oil if necessary.
Once the fish is cooked on each side, turn off the heat and add butter. While it finishes cooking in the residual heat of the pan, baste the fish every now and again with the melted butter.
Put the onions and garlic in an oiled pan over a medium heat. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook until golden and caramelized. Pour in the sherry vinegar and cook for 30 seconds.
Stir the kale into the onions, add a splash of water to help it steam and cook until wilted, adding a little more water if necessary.
Add the capers to the buttery juices in the pan of fish.
To serve, plate the kale and onions and top with the halibut steak. Spoon over the caper and parsley butter sauce and serve immediately.
The Art of Thyming 