After not seeing halibut at our standard grocery store for a while, we finally enquired about it, which resulted in a tip about a good deal on excellent Alaskan halibut ($13/lb) at a nearby store. So, tonight we finally got to try the recipe that has been teasing us from the pages of Sunset magazine since January. Perfectly cooked halibut with creamy mashed potatoes is most satisfying!Halibut
If you have a large oven-proof sauté pan then all heating can be done in it; otherwise, use a skillet and then transfer to a baking dish. Set oven to 375F/190C for starters. Melt butter, stir in the flour, take off the heat immediately. Dump this brown paste into a food processor (blender will do, but is more hassle) together with tomatillos, onion, chiles, chopped cilantro, chicken broth, and half-a-cup of sour cream. Furthermore, add salt and lime juice to taste. Purée until smooth.
Bring the sauce to a boil over high heat. Either place the fish into your sauté pan full of sauce and splash it over the fish (as we did) or place the fish into a baking dish and pour the sauce over it (as the magazine advises). Bake to perfection (just over 20 minutes, in our experience). Transfer fish to plates, spoon sauce over portions, top with residual sour cream and cilantro leaves.
~2lb/1kg halibut, cut into individual portions
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 2 tomatillos, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 poblano chiles, seeded and chopped
- 6-8 stems chilantro, chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 3/4 cup sour cream, divided into 2 parts
- juice of 1 lime
- salt
Potatoes
Simmer potatoes for about 30 minutes, until very tender. Toward the end of the time, start heating cream and milk until just simmering. Drain potatoes, return to pot over low heat and stir, adding butter, horseradish, and batches of cream-milk mixture, until soft and creamy. Use standing mixer if you like.
- 5lbs/2.5kg russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 2 cup milk
- 8oz butter
- 6 Tbsp cream-style horseradish
- salt & pepper
We found that there was way too much cream and milk for the amount of potatoes we used (3 gigantic russets). Our horseradish was pretty strong, so at first it seemed like 3-4 Tablespoons will do, but in the end 6 was about right to give a subtle but noticeable horseradish flavor.