This is one of my favorite meals to make and eat. We are very lucky that Eddie likes fish so I try to make it with him as much possible. This meal is one of the easier and simpler meals to make and depending on the sides you chose it can be done in around twenty minutes. The great thing about this dish is it can be used as a middle of the week family dinner or a nice elegant dinner with friends.
I probably head to the grocery store around three times a week, so going to the store either the day of making fish or the night before is what I like to do. Freezing fish always seems to change the taste of it and a fish like halibut I feel is better fresh. If you buy it the night before, get it seasoned and ready to go and put it in the fridge over night. Timing is going to be critical on this dish so it helps to start by setting everything out and getting the pans needed on the stove top. First step is getting the halibut seasoned. If you bought it the night before get it out of the fridge around 30 minutes prior to cooking. Add olive oil on both sides of the fish. Next, squeeze half of a lemon on both sides of the fish. Some people don’t like to eat the skin but I think that crispy skin is especially tasty so I want to make sure it is seasoned too. I like to keep things simple so again I’m not going to use too many seasonings. A little salt, pepper and a pinch of basil. Remember to use a little less salt than usual because the capers and olives are going to add additional salt flavor. After the fish is seasoned it is a good time to get the rice started. I suggest a rice cooker with my secret ingredient, chicken consomme. I buy the Israeli kind, Osem. After the rice is going, I get the water boiling for the asparagus. I like to boil it in the pan just one less thing to clean when I’m done. Once the water starts to boil I will I will drop the asparagus in. Now my wife likes the asparagus crunchy so I boil it for three minutes then take the asparagus out and put it in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Once the asparagus is in the ice bath, I will heat up the pan for the halibut. I first put olive oil in the pan and let it get hot. I like to start cooking the fish skin side up. I put the fish in and let it cook skin side up for two minutes on high heat. I flip it over and start cooking the skin side down. After I turn it I add in olives, capers, lemon juice and butter all into the pan. After two minutes of high heat I lower the heat a little and again squeeze lemon juice right on top of the halibut. While the fish is cooking I take a little bit of butter and place it into the pan that I boiled the asparagus in, I again use high heat, and put the asparagus back into the pan. I will season with a little bit of salt, and a lemon pepper seasoning and let the asparagus get a little brown to add an additional crunch factor. Now you are just about done. The fish should be white all the way through. A simple trick to know when the fish is done: take your fork and press down on the middle of the fish. If the fish starts to separate it is perfect! I will also make a tiny cut down the middle of the fish to double check.
To plate I will take the fish out of the pan and usually center it on the serving dish. Drizzle any remaining sauce from the pan over it and make sure each cut of fish has some capers and olives on it. Place the asparagus next to the fish and squeeze a little fresh lemon onto the asparagus. Don’t forget about the rice!
Feeds 4 Adults:
- 1 lb Fresh Halibut
- 1 bushel of asparagus
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- Two Lemons
- 1/2 cup of Capers
- 10 black olives
- Salt
- Pepper
- Basil