Pan Roasted Halibut
This dish is a pretty close representation of a dish in Thomas Keller's 'Ad Hoc at Home' book. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor and get a copy. It's been instrumental in my learning and I cannot recommend it enough. This dish is going to use Pacific Halibut and pea shoots. My slight deviation is the use of Yellowfoot mushrooms, whereas in the book, he uses Chanterelles. The Yellowfoot is a type of Chanterelle, so I'm not too far off, but it's not exact. I'll warn you now...if you haven't worked with Chanterelles yet, be aware that they are a notorious pain in the ass to clean. If they look dirty on the outside, there's a good chance they're going to be dirty on the inside. I've always had to split them down the middle to find the dirt hiding in the stem. Yellowfoots are just smaller versions of those. They'll usually have less dirt, but they're harder to hold and therefore clean. You've been warned.
The Process
Ingredients
- 1lbs Fresh Pacific Halibut
- 1/2lbs Yellowfoot mushrooms (Chanterelles or any other available wild mushroom)
- 2 shallots
- 2 thyme sprigs
- 1/2 cup Chicken stock
- 2-3 ounces Pea Shoots
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Fish Brine
- Kosher Salt
- Onion Powder
- Finishing Salt (Maldon or Fleur de sel)
Cookware
- Medium saute or fry pan
Short and Sweet Instructions
- Brine the fish in a 5% brine for 8 minutes. Remove from brine, rinse under cold water, pat dry.
- Cook your mushrooms and shallots in the thyme and butter.
- Add the chicken stock and reduce to a glaze to complete the cooking process.
- Stir in the pea shoots and set aside.
- Saute your fish in the pan presentation side down
- Finish in the oven or over low heat
- Serve the fish over the bed of mushrooms and shoots
Prep
Fish: Brine the fish using the 5% brine for 8 minutes. Rinse under cold water after removing it from the brine. Thoroughly dry with paper towels. Move to the fridge until 15 minutes before you're ready to cook it.
Mushrooms: You're probably going to need to run these under water unless they're extremely clean. The dirt likes to get trapped in the crevices, so you may need to split the mushroom down the middle to expose dirt trapped in the stem. It's a pain, but it's better than having that crunchy texture that only dirt in your food can provide. Lay them on paper towels or a kitchen rag to help dry them out.
Shallots: finely dice your shallots
Cooking Instructions
Yellowfoot Mushrooms and Pea Shoots
- Heat 2 tbsp butter in your skillet over medium high heat
- Add the diced shallots and saute until softened. 2 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms, thyme and a pinch of salt
- Saute for 4-5 minutes or until they've released most of their liquid
- Add the stock and reduce to a glaze
- Add the pea shoots and stir to combine
- Adjust seasoning
- Serve or put aside
Fish
- Brine the fish
- Cut into 6 cubes
- Season with kosher salt
- Saute over medium high heat, presentation side down, until golden brown. 2-4 minutes
- Transfer to 350 degree oven for 2-3 mins or until internal temp hits 128 degrees
Finishing
- Make a bed with the mushrooms and shoots
- Place the fish on top
- Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil
- Add some finishing salt
- Add a few cracks of black pepper over the fish
- Serve and enjoy
Plating
- Make a bed with the chanterelles and pea shoots
- Make sure the bright green of the pea shoots is visible
- Place the fish on top
