cheeky halibut and the usual

my roommate said to me, “this is probably my favourite fish you’ve made so far…”  🙂 thanks, Brian in SEAFOOD! also, the title sounds like the name of an old jazz band…no?!

i had never heard of halibut cheeks.  but after having that amazing wild caught halibut earlier this season, i knew i had to try them.  anything fresh, wild caught, and semi-local and i’m all about it.  i do miss the east coast a lot for the seafood, i must say.

if you have access to a whole foods market, you can find these at the seafood counter right around this time of year.  halibut cheeks are considered a bit of a delicacy, one i’m fortunate enough to have been able to try.  they are likened to scallops, they are the most tender part of the halibut fish.

ingredients :

– 1/2 pound halibut cheeks {wild caught, not previously frozen}

– 1 head swiss chard

– 1 cup cous cous

– 3-4 small tomatoes

– 2-3 cloves garlic

– butter or oil of choice

whenever i make a meal that has cous cous on the side, i usually start it before the rest of the meal.  it will stay hot while in the pan and not overcook, so i just get it out of the way 🙂

since i make my cous cous from scratch and not out of the box, it does take a little longer.  i always roast my seasonings first.  in this case, i tossed in some chopped tomatoes and garlic and sauteed them in my sauce pan on medium heat with a couple tablespoons of clarified butter {sometimes i’ll use regular organic butter or oil}.  once this begins to cook down a bit, almost to the point of crisping, i’ll add in my water and cous cous.  the ratio is about 1:1.75 for cous cous. i make it a lot and i don’t measure exact… you’ll figure it out!  add in water, 2 tablespoons butter or oil and bring to a boil.  then toss in the cous cous, bring to a boil again, and remove from heat.  let the cous cous sit, fluffing it occasionally with a fork, while you prepare the rest of the dish.

take your halibut cheeks and sprinkle them with a little S&P.  in a large skillet, heat about 1/2 inch of clarified butter down to a liquid, and set your halibut cheeks in.  we want to cook them on low-medium heat until the flesh turns white and flaky.  flip them over once about 6-8 minutes through and cook on each side.

while these are sizzling, let’s get the chard going as well

can we talk about this gorgeous chard, again?!  wow. they’re like nature’s crayons.  i bought the rainbow chard, mostly because i love a little variety in life.   but i was marveling at them when i laid out the stalks to photograph.  i love how the stalk almost looks like it’s leading up to veins or something… like, DUH, plants are living but… this really kind of proves that point… they look – ALIVE!  and oh so colourful.

chop up your chard and rinse it really well.  in a skillet, melt about a tablespoon of butter and a smidgen of water – usually what i’ll do is chop my chard, put it in a large bowl and rinse it very well, then drain most of the water minus a little and dump that whole thing into my skillet.

it won’t take long for the chard to wilt down.  keep your eye on the halibut and return to the greens when they are looking more like this :

it’s kind of amazing how a huge bunch of greens cook down to like, nothing.

your halibut should be close to done… when it looks more like this :

it is rather flaky, and mine stuck to the pan a little bit… no big.  you want it to no longer be opaque, it should be white through and through.  go ahead and nab a bite… and watch out for flavour overload! 😉

on a plate, it looks like this :

i was rather impressed with this.

simple ingredients, minimal seasoning – just really really good, in season, fresh food.  the way i like it.

Tags: cous cous, fish, halibut, halibut cheeks, meals, seasonal