Halibut Season

We've been eating halibut once or twice a week now that it is fresh in the market. To me there's no fish more delightful to cook. It is easy and takes to many different flavors. Many people (not me) object to salmon because it tastes too strong or oily. Halibut has none of that. It is just pure white fish, slightly dense but still tender. It is a lot like cod and can be interchanged with cod in most recipes. But I think cod is more flaky, more watery and looser in texture.

So here's a couple new recipes I've tried. The first is Spanish-Style Halibut from the My Recipes website. The only thing that defines this as "spanish" is the use of smoked paprika to season the fish. If you've never tried smoked paprika, I would recommend buying some because it's a very nice spice for seasoning meat or fish. It has all the smoke flavor, but a little less heat than chipotle powder. You could easily do chipotle powder in this recipe though. I think it would work just as well.

I liked this recipe because 1. Both the fish and the spinach are cooked in one pan, minimizing mess 2. There is bacon in the recipe and still it is light. 3. It is very adaptable, I could see using this spice on shrimp and making the exact same dish. When I make it again, I'm going to add raisins to the spinach. That is a classic combo called Spinach Catalan - a very spanish way of doing spinach. We have it this way all the time. I was lucky to find Deborah Madison's recipe on-line.

You wont find a link for the next recipe because it is from the current issue of Fine Cooking. But it is called Sear-Roasted Cod with Horseradish Aioli and Lemon Breadcrumbs, but I made it with halibut. I had to laugh when I read through this recipe because the preparation is similar to what I've been doing with fish for a while now - that is, spreading a flavored mayo on the fish to adhere some toasted, seasoned breadcrumbs. I adapted it from an Oven-Fried Chicken article from FC84. It is a great way to get crunchy fish with no frying. However, this horseradish aioli is better than any flavored mayo that I've put together so far. Besides spreading it on the fish, we put a little dollop on our plates to dip the fish in because it was so tasty. It would be a great sauce for a crab cake or to dip a fried shrimp into (arteries, be damned!) - kind of like a remoulade. There's also a little parsley salad that you make. That I would probably skip next time, maybe instead, I'd just add some chopped parsley to the crumbs.

As a side for the halibut, I made a nice asparagus dish from Barefoot Contessa Cooks Family Style. It's just roasted asparagus on which you grate a little parmesan on at the end. It went nicely with the flavors of the fish and is very seasonal too.

Happy Halibut Season, Happy Spring!