Halibut Fish and Chips - My Favourite Take-Out

We don't have Take-Out often.  Not because I'm against take-out.  I'm all for  take-out.  Unfortunately though, we live in an area where the take-out  that is available is either  really bad Chinese or really bad pizza.  Hence the reason I make both of those myself.     Thankfully my favourite take-out -  Fish and Chips - is within a 5 minute drive.  Halibut is the only kind of fish I want as Fish and Chips.  Many similar places also offer Cod and sometimes Haddock, but Moe and I both grew up on Halibut Fish and Chips and only Halibut will do.

The Mill Bay Fish and Chip Restaurant  makes a nice light crispy batter for their fish.  And, their fries are hand cut.  The batter is not at all doughy like some others, and the halibut is  delicious and succulent  with a meaty but large  flakey texture.  For me, no other fish comes close to Halibut.

There are a few ways that I will prepare halibut, but when it comes to fish and chips we either go out for them or order them in.

Grilled Halibut with a Tomato Black Olive Salsa

Halibut coated with a Parmesan Crust

Halibut with an Asian Twist

Happy New Year

New Years Eve is always a quiet affair at our home.

Lobster

 and Champagne.  

 Our tradition for over 30 years.   One of our local grocery stores brings in lobsters from the east coast and sells them for $10.95 per lobster.    I pre-ordered five live lobsters and picked them up yesterday morning before heading to work. The lobsters were suppose to be one pounders.  I weighed them and each lobster was between 1.2 to 1.6 pounds.

Lobsters are easy to prepare.  Steamed more than boiled.    I have a huge pot that I put about 3 inches of water in, add salt and bring to a boil.  The lobsters go in head first and take about 12 minutes to cook.

Once the lobsters are cooked, I separate the tails from the body and cut them in half, remove the  and legs and claws and crack them to make it easier to remove the meat .  The lobsters cool off as they are being cut up so I put them on a steamer rack,back into the pot and steam them for a minute or two just long enough to reheat.   Served with clarified butter, seasoned with a garlic clove, and lemon wedges on the side.

Angel Hair Pasta with Lobster

I didn't get nearly as much done as I had wanted  on my days off this week.  It snowed Monday and Tuesday wasn't much better.  So that left Wednesday.  It was only raining so I headed down to Victoria to finish up my Christmas shopping.  On the way home I stopped at the market thinking I would buy clams and make pasta for dinner.   Lobster tails were on sale so I picked up two for the freezer and two more for dinner. 

Made a quick and simple pasta dinner.

  Angel Hair Pasta with Lobster
=============================
2 lobster tails

1 red chili, finely sliced or chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
olive oil
white wine
chicken broth
3 to 4 canned Italian tomatoes or fresh Roma tomatoes
parsley
basil
salt
pepper

Cut Lobster into bite size pieces (in shell)
Saute red chili and garlic in olive oil.  Add the lobster and cook a couple of minutes.  3 or 4 tomatoes chopped canned or fresh tomatoes. Add 1/4 cup white wine and 1/4 cup chicken broth.  Simmer until lobster
is cooked. Just a couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper.  Add the cooked, drained angel hair pasta to the pan, add the parsley and basil and toss to mix.  Serves two.

Garlic Prawns over Pasta

Last spring I froze a number of containers of our local spotted prawns. Beheaded but tails left on and frozen in water.  This is the best way to freeze prawns or shrimp if you want them to retain their fresh caught flavour and texture.

I still had two containers of local spotted prawns in the freezer.  Perfect for when I haven't made any plans for dinner.  I called Moe yesterday from work and had him pull one of them out of the freezer.  They didn't take long to defrost when run under water and they only took  a couple of minutes to cook.

Making a slight adjustment to my standard Spanish Tapa - Garlic shrimp recipe  I sauted  the prawns with lots of garlic in olive oil seasoned with red hot pepper flakes, added about a quarter cup of chicken broth, 3 tablespoons butter and fresh chopped parsley and served them over spaghetti.  Another quick and simple dinner.

Spanish Tapa - Garlic Shrimp
============================
6 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound medium or large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons of chicken broth
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt
2 Tablespoons minced parsley
Italian or French Bread cut into cubes

Heat the oil, garlic and red pepper flakes in a large, shallow pan. When the garlic just begins to turn golden, add the shrimp and cook over high heat for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the broth
and lemon juice.

If serving in the living room, pour into a large earthenware bowl and sprinkle with salt and parsley. Serve immediately.
Note:  Use more chicken broth and lemon juice if you like more sauce to dip the bread into.

Risotto with Prawns

Dinner tonight was influenced by Mary.  Of  course dinner is often influenced by her.  If you haven't visited Mary's blog Once Upon A Plate you are in for a visual treat.
   
Mary posted today about an  Oven Baked Parmesan Risotto.  A little different than a traditional stove top risotto but delicious all the same.   I had nothing planned for dinner but when I saw Mary's post everything fell into place.

I pulled a container of local spotted prawns from the freezer.  Sauted onion in butter and olive oil,  and when they were soft added minced garlic, toss the Carnaroli rice into the pot, stirred to coat the rice, added homemade turkey broth, covered and put the pot in the oven.   When the rice was minutes from done, I tossed in the prawns and back into the oven for about 4 minutes.   Added the butter and parmesan cheese, a gentle stir and our Risotto was ready to eat.

This was an amazingly easy dinner to put together.  A one pot dinner.  I  would definitely make this again.  Lots of options for changing it up.  Maybe adding Italian Sausage or Asparagus, peas, clams, etc......

Fish and Chips

Saturday night's dinner  - Fresh Petrale Sole breaded with fresh bread crumbs seasoned with parmesan cheese and lemon zest.  To add a little more flavour I also grated a garlic clove on a microplane and mixed the paste in with the egg dip. 

Served with oven roasted potato wedges and a sauce made with Hellman's, sour cream, fresh dill, Dijon mustard, lemon zest and lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Sole in a Cream Sauce with Mushroons and Baby Shrimp

Fish again tonight. Sole served in a cream sauce with mushrooms and hand-peeled baby shrimp.

This was a very easy dinner to put together. Dinner was served in less than 45 minutes after I got home from work. 

A simple Bechamel sauce seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper and just a little fresh grated Parmesan. The sole was sauted quickly in a little oil and butter. Sauted mushrooms and  baby shrimp were added to the sauce at the last minute. I was thinking initially of making Duchesse potatoes but decided that Parisienne potatoes would be quicker.

Homemade Pasta

Before leaving for work this morning I used the food processor to knead up a  batch of pasta dough.  The dough went into the fridge to rest for the day and about 4:00 PM I called Moe and had him take it out so that it could come to room temperature and be ready to roll out when I got home from work.  He also took a container of spotted prawns out of the freezer at the same time.

A pan of cherry tomatoes (fresh picked from our garden)  drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with minced garlic, basil and salt and pepper went into the oven immediately after I walked in the door.   While the tomatoes roasted I rolled out the dough for the pasta and cut it into wide ribbons, put a pot of water on to boil and cleaned the prawns.


Dinner was pasta tossed with garlic simmered in olive oil with hot red pepper flakes, roasted cherry tomatoes, pan fried prawns , chopped parsley and fresh basil.



This is my basic Pasta recipe.  Todays batch was made in the food processor using two cups of flour, 2 1/2 eggs, one tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a little salt.

Pasta - Homemade Pasta
======================
I watched a friends Italian Momma make her pasta one day. (She did it all by hand)  I make it following her directions but I use the Food Processor to mix and knead.

1 egg for each cup of flour( plus an extra egg for every 3 cups of flour, ie. 3 cups flour = 4 eggs, 6 cups flour = 8 eggs.
Salt
1 tablespoon of olive oil, per three cups of flour.

Put the flour on a large board and make a well in the centre. Crack the eggs into the well and sprinkle with salt and oil . Use your fingertips to mix up the eggs and then start to incorporate the flour into the eggs. Eventually it will all come together. (add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water if necessary) Knead dough until smooth and elastical. Let sit covered for 15 or 20 minutes. Divide dough into smaller portions and run through a pasta rolling machine or roll out by hand. Let dry slightly and then cut into desire widths.  Leave out to dry or use fresh. When dried she always stored it in a wax paper lined box, in a cool place.

You can also mix and knead this in the cuisinart, which is what I do when I make it.

My friends mom would make 12 and 15 egg pasta at a time and give it to all of her family members (and me, a would-be family member). After she cut the pasta she would lay the strands flat. She would have it spread
out everywhere there was a flat surface and also hang it from a broomstick strung between two drawers. Once it was dry she would gather up the stiff pieces and put them in boxes. Because I don't make that
much at a time, I just lay it all over my table and counter.

NOTE:  Depending on the flour and the eggs, sometimes you will need more eggs

Click Here for Printable Recipe

Prawn Etouffee

Cajun was on the menu last night.   I made this to share with our neighbours.  Neither Clif or Barb had ever had Etouffee before and both loved it.  In fact Clif declared it one of the best meals I've cooked for him.

Although the original recipe calls for crawfish, they are hard to find here on the west coast of Canada.  I always make them using local Spotted Prawns.   It is a very simple recipe but it is time consuming.

Etouffee Southern Living Magazine

Edited from Southern Living Magazine

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium-size green bell pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large shallot, chopped


1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or more to taste
2 to 3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
2 pounds fresh Prawns cleaned and shelled (leave tails)
Hot cooked rice

Melt Butter.

Add onions, celery and green pepper. Cook for a few minutes. Add garlic and shallots. Cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add flour, salt and cayenne pepper and cook over medium low heat, stirring until mixture is caramel colour. Takes about 30 to 45 minutes.

Add chicken broth and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add parsley and chives.

Add Prawns and cook for 2 minutes. Just until prawns are cooked. Do not over cook.

Serve over rice.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Deep Fried Battered Prawns

We drove down to Victoria today to have lunch with our son and his girlfriend.  It was Matt's 28th birthday.  I'm so happy that we live close enough to be able to see Matt as often as we want.

I had intended to make an Asian style dinner with prawns and rice etc.. but didn't think I could eat a big meal so I decided to just do something simple with the prawns.  Deep fried and battered.  The prawns were rubbed with fresh garlic paste (rubbed the garlic on a microplane) and then coated with a flour/cornstarch mixture, into beaten egg and back into the flour before frying in hot peanut oil.   The dip was  made with grated ginger, more garlic, hot chile sauce and rice wine vinegar.

Petrale Sole with a Beurre Blanc Sauce

I've made a decision to cook fish more often.  Or at least make an effort to cook fish more often. .  But there are so few fish that I really like that it makes it difficult.   Pretale Sole, like Halibut is one fish that I like enough to eat more than once a week.  And, unlike Halibut, sole isn't expensive.   We could probably have three sole dinners for the same price as one halibut dinner.   Another good thing about sole is it can be prepared a  number of ways; breaded, sauted, fried, baked, poached, stuffed..etc....

Last night we had it pan fried and topped with a beurre blanc sauce.   Garnished with chives.

Sides were fingerling potatoes, baby leeks and broccoli.  The vegetables were all fresh from the local Farmer's Market.  

Most Beurre Blanc sauces are made with  reduced white white, vinegar or lemon juice  but I like to use just white wine, lemon and a little chicken broth.   I find that the chicken broth mellows out the flavour a little and besides, I've never cared for a vinegar flavour.  

Beurre Blanc
============
1 small shallot
1/4 cup white white
1/4 cup chicken broth
juice from half lemon
1/2 cup butter

Add the minced shallots to the white wine, chicken broth and lemon juice and simmer until reduced to about 1 tablespoon.  Strain out the shallots and return to the pot.

Add the butter one tablespoon at a time stirring to incorporate the butter into the sauce.  Keep adding one tablespoon at a time. Be careful to not let the sauce get too hot or the butter will separate.

Fish Dinner

I left for work an hour early yesterday morning so I could go to the farmers market. I picked up a number of fresh veggies - green beans, yellow beans, swiss chard, two more pounds of wonderful fresh garlic, zucchini, cauliflower and little fingerling potatoes.

We had dinner with Clif, our next door neighbour. I cooked one of Moe's favourite meals - fish. Except for halibut which I absolutely love and could eat a couple of times a week, I'm not a lover of fish. But I don't mind Petrale Sole especially if it is breaded or just pan fried and topped with brown butter and herbs or a lemon butter sauce. Last night I coated it with fresh bread crumbs seasoned with parmesan cheese, pan fried it

and

served with roasted potatoes,

the above mentioned beans, steamed and buttered

and

cherry tomatoes from our own garden, sauted in olive oil and seasoned with fresh minced garlic and fresh basil.

Grilled Halibut

My birthday dinner

Grilled Halibut served on a bed of Swiss Chard and topped with a Tomato and black olive salsa. ( tomatoes, kalamata olives, garlic, basil, lemon zest, salt, pepper and olive oil.) . The tomatoes and basil were from our garden. The only other side was little purple potatoes, steamed and then tossed with garlic and olive oil.

Prawn Cocktail with Salsa Fresca and Avocado

I pulled some local spot prawns out of the freezer when I got home from work. While they were defrosting I made a fresh salsa using tomatoes from our garden. It only took one minute to poach the prawns.

Moe loved dinner and it couldn't have been any simpler. Salsa Fresca topped with chilled prawns and slices of ripe avocado.

Pasta and Prawns

Put a few cloves of the fresh garlic to good use last night.

Penne with grilled prawns.

The penne was tossed with a fresh tomato sauce seasoned with lots of garlic and fresh basil. The prawns were rubbed with a lemon parmesan pesto and grilled. I tossed a few balls of mini boccochini cheese (fresh mozzarella) into the hot pasta before adding the room temperature tomato mixture. The heat from the pasta slightly melted the cheese. Moe moaned as he ate his dinner.

Cold Lobster Dinner

It has been sooooo hot here the last week and the high temperatures (mid to high 90's) are going to continue into next week. With no rain in sight. We usually have a mild summer with temperatures in the low to mid 70's. I'm not complaining. I love hot summers.


One of Clif's friends sent him six cooked and frozen lobsters from
the east coast. He gave them to me to do what I wanted with them. Since it was so hot I decided it would be better to just serve them cold. I made a potato salad and cooked and chilled fresh asparagus to go with the lobster and I mixed up my favourite seafood (Remoulade) sauce.





It was a lovely evening so we dined outside on Clif's porch. As a starter Clif served steamed artichokes with a garlicky dip and then we had the lobster.




TIP: To make it easy for everyone to eat the lobster, I removed the claws and tails. And, then, cut the tails down the middle using kitchen scissors and used a cleaver to crack the claws.

Dessert was a big plate of fresh cut fruit. Pineapple, Cherries and watermelon.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Shellfish sauce - Remoulade sauce
=================================
This is my recipe. I use it on cold seafood plates. Usually with crab claws, baby shrimps, prawns, lobsters and avocado salads.

1 cup Homemade Mayo, or 1 cup Hellman's mayo
1/4 cup Chile Sauce
1 garlic Clove minced
1 tablespoon horseradish
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (Coarse)
splash of Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons HP Sauce (or A 1 Sauce)
fresh squeezed lemon juice
fresh dill
salt and pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together.

Taste and adjust to suit personal taste. If you like Horseradish, add more, or more mustard.

Halibut for Lunch

I bought the halibut for dinner but cooked it for our lunch instead.

This is one of my favourite ways to serve halibut - with a Parmesan crust.






Served over mashed potatoes and spinach sauted with garlic.







Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Parmesan-Crusted Halibut
========================
Shared by Lori (Hoopysmom) Gardenweb
Source:Recipe from Ray’s Boathouse: Seafood Secrets of the Pacific Northwest, Ken Gouldthorpe.

½ cup flour
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons water
2 cups Panko bread crumbs ( I never use panko. I prefer fresh made bread crumbs)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Zest of 1 lemon, chopped
4 6-oz halibut fillets, skin removed
3 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Place flour in one bowl, beat eggs and water place in 2nd bowl, combine Panko, Parmesan and lemon zest in 3rd bowl. Lightly salt and pepper the halibut fillets. Dredge the fillets in flour, next dip in egg and then coat with bread crumb mixture.

Heat olive oil in ovenproof pan. Saute the fillets on medium-high until golden-brown crust forms. Turn fillets over and place pan in preheated oven. Roast until centers are pearly white and opaque.

Asian Style Black Pepper Prawns

I had nothing special planned for dinner last night and I didn't feel like going out. So, I pulled some spotted prawns out of the freezer. It only took a few minutes to defrost them. I just turn on the tap and let the water run over them.

I looked for a recipe that sounded interesting and found a few for Black Pepper Shrimp but none that really appealed to me. So I just winged it. Served over rice. Moe declared this recipe a keeper.



Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Black Pepper Prawns
===================
16 large prawns
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 teaspoons Shao Hsing Wine
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
2 to 3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 cloves garlic
Coarsely ground black pepper
salt
1 to 2 teaspoons of Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
2 to 4 tablespoons chicken broth
5 green onions - tops only, cut into one to two inches pieces.

Peel and devein prawns. Leave the tail on. Toss prawns with wine, soy and cornstarch. Refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes.

Heat wok on high. Add oil. Toss prawns in wok and cook for one to two minutes. Sprinkle with black pepper, salt, garlic. Stir to coat, add the chili sauce, chicken broth and the green onions. Stir to coat and serve over rice.

Spicy Asian Prawns

Nice and spicy and served over steamed rice, these local spotted prawns were delicious.



Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Spicy Asian Prawns
==================

Peanut oil
1 pound Prawns cleaned with tails left on
2 to 3 tablespoons cornstarch
4 to 5 green onions sliced on the diagonal
2 to 3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon Asian Chili Garlic Sauce (or more to taste)
1 inch piece of ginger thinly sliced and julienned
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth
toasted sesame seeds


Mix rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and chicken broth together. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil in wok. Toss prawns in cornstarch. Add to hot oil a few at a time. Toss to cook. Will only take a minute or two to cook. Don't over cook. Remove prawns to plate. Continue until all prawns are cooked. Add additional oil as needed.

Add ginger, garlic to pan, cook for 15 or 20 seconds; add half of the green onions; the sauce; add the prawns back into the pan toss to heat; sprinkle with the remaining green onions and serve over rice. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Halibut in an Asian Style Broth

Keeping with my resolution to try and cook fish more often, I prepared Halibut for dinner last night. Tried something a little different. Found a few recipes where the fish was poached in a seasoned broth. Many of the recipes called for honey, something that I wouldn't like. I am not a fan of anything sweet with meat or fish so I went with something a little more savory/spicy. The Chili Garlic sauce was really hot giving the dish real heat. TIP: If unlike me, you would like a sweet broth, use Thai Sweet Chili sauce instead of the Chili Garlic.


Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Halibut in Asian Broth
======================
Basic Outline. Adjust to suit own taste.

Halibut filets or steaks

2 to 3 cups chicken broth
1 to 2 teaspoons Chili Garlic sauce
1 clove of garlic
1 inch of ginger julienne
2 to 3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
Green onions
cilantro

Rice or rice noodles (optional)

Heat chicken broth. Add chili garlic sauce, minced garlic, ginger, and rice wine vinegar. Bring to a low simmer. Add halibut, cover and poach for approximate 5 to 6 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit one to two minutes. Serve in shallow bowls. Sprinkle with green onion and cilantro. May be served with either rice or rice noodles.