Halibut, Potatoes, and Corn on the Cob

At the farmers market on Saturday, we picked up some corn on the cob, some all red potatoes from Olsen Farms, and a nice piece of halibut from Loki Fish Co. I didn't want to do the same preparation with the fish, and I feel like I've been neglecting my cookbook collection, so I decided to consult it.

Amazingly, I flipped through multiple books before I found a recipe for halibut. I found it in a book called Martha Stewart's Cooking School. It comes out on October 21st, but I was lucky enough to get an advance copy through one of the buyers at my work.

The book is organized with a focus on teaching, making some of the recipes more general regarding ingredients - which means 'halibut' wasn't to be found in the index. But since it's over 500 pages long, I figured there must be a suggestion in there somewhere, so I flipped to the 'Meat, Poultry and Fish' section. It begins with information on cuts of meats, buying guides, knife skills for specific cuts, and temperature guides for different meats. Then it is broken into sections by cooking method: roasting, grilling, steaming, frying, poaching, etc. At the beginning of each of these sections is a list of recommended cuts of meat, poultry and fish to use for the specific cooking method. I checked roasting and grilling, but halibut wasn't recommended. Then I came across braising, and halibut was the perfect choice because it's firm enough to stand up to the slow cooking... albeit pretty quick, slow cooking in the case of fish.

The recipe I chose was for Braised Fish with Fennel and Tomato. I didn't have all the ingredients, but I improvised and it turned out great. The recipe below is as it 's written, with my notes following on what I did differently.

Braised Fish with Fennel and Tomato
3 Tbspn extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup water
1 medium fennel bulb, halved, cored, and thinly sliced lengthwise
2 medium tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped (1 1/2 cups)
3 to 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
4 thin lemon rounds
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
4 skinless fillets of firm-fleshed fish, such as grouper, HALIBUT, sea bass, or snapper

Prepare braising liquid: Pour the oil, wine, and water into a large skillet, then add the fennel, tomatoes, garlic, and lemon slices. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over moderate heat until the tomatoes begin to fall apart and the fennel softens, 12-15 minutes.

Braise the fish: Sprinkle both sides of the fish with salt and pepper and arrange the fillets in the pan, partially submerging them in the sauce. Cover and simmer until the fish is opaque througout, 6 to 8 minutes (or 8 to 10 for thicker fillets).

Serve: Spoon some of the braising sauce into a shallow bowl, then top with fish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with pepper.

I didn't have fennel bulbs, so I used fennel seed. And I had about half the fish it called for, so I halved the rest of the ingredients and shortened the cooking times a bit. Alongside the roasted red potatoes and boiled corn on the cob, it was a great dinner - and surprisingly quick!