What the Halibut?!

We eat halibut often; it is probably our favorite fish. It is snowy white, flaky, and yet meaty at the same time. And it stands up well to strong flavors (although on its own, I would never call it strong flavored.) I especially love halibut with asian flavors and usually that is my prep of choice. But I am so enjoying this recipe that I wanted to share it. I've talked a little about it once before. It is my take off on a Fine Cooking method (issue 84) of producing crispy, crunchy chicken from the oven. I think it works great with halibut and is very adaptable too. You can flavor the mayo anyway you like, and you can play around with the toasted breadcrumbs too. Here's a really loose recipe, feel free to make it your own:

6 oz. piece of halibut per serving
1/8 c of mayo per serving, minced garlic, lemon, maybe some other stuff
Breadcrumbs, fresh, as much as you need to coat the top of each portion, see following

Preheat oven to 400'

For the breadcrumbs, zip some good white bread (or a baguette), crusts removed (I would guess one slice per serving if using plain bread,) in a food processor until you get coarse crumbs. Add a little olive oil to a nonstick skillet, add the breadcrumbs, toss to coat and toast over med. heat until the crumbs until are golden brown. Stir occasionally, so the crumbs toast evenly. Remove pan from heat. Season with salt, pepper, freshly chopped herbs.

For the mayo, flavor the mayo with a squeeze of lemon, minced garlic, salt and pepper. You could also add some prepared horseradish or mustard to liven things up a bit. You know what you like.

Lay out each portion of halibut on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment or foil for easy cleanup.

Season the halibut with a little salt. Give each portion a coat of mayo, don't put too much on, just enough to adhere the crumbs.

Press the toasted breadcrumbs onto the fish. Pop them into the oven for 20 minutes. You should get something that looks like this:

If you are a mayo-hater like me, I promise you won't detect the mayo in the finished product. You will get a moist piece of flavorful fish with a crunchy topping.

This is a great recipe for entertaining. You can have the breadcrumbs and mayo prepared, and just quickly prepare the halibut and put it in the oven, 20 or so minutes before dinner is served.

My fish guy tells me there won't be any fresh halibut for a while since it is out of season now. But this recipe works well with previously frozen, that is what I used here. This is so good, please try it.