Halibut Osso Buco with Risotto

It was a real blue Monday.  A surgery in the family. Shane has allergies. Kept leaving my phone everywhere except with me!  General “ick-ola” feeling.  You know that type of Monday? You’re really in search of something good to make you smile and if you look hard enough, it comes up.  So there were a few grins and chuckles today, but fewer than normal.  Chin up..there IS tomorrow! Here’s one for you:  😀

The workout this morning was not a good one.  It was only 23 min. of ET. 30 minutes working shoulders.  38 minute walk with Shane. Nothing to get the heart rate up nor make me sweat  (whoops!) I mean perspire (my mother would correct me:  “Joanne – ladies do not sweat, we perspire!”

Good Eats. Elegant Eats. In fact, a whole dinner! 

A few weeks ago I received the most elegant of cook books. It is “Cooking with America’s Championship Team: ACF”.   These are not recipes for the faint of heart.  I had to be completely honest with myself and admit my finished dish was not going to look like the picture in the book.  It probably wouldn’t taste the same, but as long as we liked it, none of that mattered.

My first attempt at one of the recipes:  I call it “Halibut Osso Buco with Zucchini Risotto.  The one in the book (page 136) is called “Monkfish Osso Buco over Eggplant Risotto”.  I changed my recipe in just about every way but will say it is based upon the one in the book.  I’m listing it in the order I prepared it.

Tomato Coulis:

• 1 large fresh tomato
• 1 TBS vegetable stock
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/8 tsp crushed fennel

Combine all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Season to taste. Chill.

Green Cauliflower (in the book, Chef Jamie P. Keating serves Broccoli Rabe):

• 1 head green cauliflower, chopped, boiled for 5 minutes to soften slightly
• 1 TBS SmartBalance (or butter)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste.

Bring water to a boil. Add the cauliflower and boil 5 minutes. Drain. When you are about 10 minutes from serving dinner, place the drained cauliflower in a saute pan with melted SmartBalance, add seasoning and sautee 5 to 8 minutes.

Zucchini Risotto (Chef uses Eggplant- which I didn’t have, but I did have a zucchini  🙂   )

• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 TBS canola oil
• 1 medium zucchini – diced
• 1 shallot, diced
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup Arborio rice
• 1 1/2 cups Vegetable Stock (or chicken or fish stock) – use more as needed.
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 6 large basil leaves, shredded
• 6 large sundried tomatoes reconstituted in a sweet wine – about 1 hour or more.( I used the Lexia from Friday, an Alice White Australian wine – about 3/4 cup)
• 1 TBS SmartBalance (or butter)
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in skillet and saute the zucchini about 5 minutes on medium high.

Add the shallots and garlic and cook another 3 – 4 minutes. Turn off heat.

Put the rice in a dry skillet on medium high heat and toast lightly. 

Add half of the stock and all of the liquid from the soaking sundried tomatoes. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Add the rest of the stock and cook until it has been absorbed.  Add more if needed or until rice is tender. 

Stir in cheese, half & half.  Then add the basil, tomatoes, zucchini, and SmartBalance. Season to taste.

The Halibut (or fish of your choice):

• 2 Halibut fillets (approx. 1.25 lbs)
• 1/2 cup seasoned flour (I seasoned the flour with salt, pepper, and italian seasoning)
• 2 ounced white wine
• 2 TBS Fish Sauce
• 1 cup Vegetable stock
• 2 large green onions, diced
• 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 2 TBS fresh chopped parsley
• 1 large shredded bay leaf

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Season the fish on all sides in the flour.  Heat the oil in a saute pan and sear fish on all sides (about 3 min per side). 

Remove from pan and put into a foil lined baking dish (easy clean up).  Add the wine, stock, onion, and seasonings to the pan and bring to a boil.  Pour over the fish and bake 8 minutes.

 

 

This dish was a terrific idea. But… it lacked flavor. I think it was the fish.  Amazing since so much went into it.   By the way, the tomato coulis is added to the side of the plate with a sprig of basil to serve.

Here’s to a better tomorrow! Cheers!

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CEimB: Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut-Curry Broth

This weeks recipe for CEimB was picked by Liz of The Not So Skinny Kitchen.  If you visit her blog, don’t go there hungry. Her posts will make you drool. 

As indicated in the post title, we all made this recipe using a delicious fish, Halibut.  It is mild in taste, flaky, yet firm and moist when cooked correctly.  It is also on my list of fish that should only be eaten 6 or less times a month due to their “moderate” mercury content.  Halibut is an expensive fish so I can’t imagine indulging too often anyway.  An interesting fact about this fish is that it is on a “sustainability” list and almost all the Halibut we purchase on the East coast is brought in from the Pacific. 

Ted and Teddy's version with brown rice

This recipe can be found on page 232 of “The Food You Crave” by Ellie Krieger.  You can also get it off the foodnetwork.   Our opinion of this recipe, and we had 3 taste testers, Ted, Teddy, and yours truly were very much the same:  the fish was moist and delicious but the flavor was lacking. I must have missed something because this is my sister’s comment “Here’s the halibut dinner for this week, we loved it.  Sue”  Her photo is at the end of the blog.

Super moist

My recommendation if doing this again is at the bottom of this post.  But…here’s my story.

First, let me introduce you to my “gadget” of the night. I found this at the back of my cupboard when making the Spring Rolls the other day. It’s amazing what I can find in the back of my cupboards. It’s similar to finding that $50.00 bill you hide in your wallet “just in case”…you know..the one you put there about 10 years ago?!?  This gadget, actually it’s a tool rather than a gadget, comes with a wooden cutting board that has an indented surface. You put the herb in the middle and simply rock the super sharp blades back and forth. Easy chopping.

Ingredient changes…. I didn’t use canola oil, I used olive oil. I didn’t have the shallot so I used 1/2 an onion. No cilantro, only fresh flat leaf parsley. 

Time changes.  The only time difference was with the fish. The Halibut were 2 very large fillets and I had to let them cook 12 minutes.

My fish tales….When in South Carolina last week, I went to my favorite fresh fish store, Murrell’s Inlet Seafood. I was told it was no problem shipping to NY and the fish would certainly keep for months since it was fresh and NOT previously frozen.  Apparently you can freeze fish and defrost ONLY ONE TIME. Do not freeze, defrost and refreeze.  No good. So in this event, I believed the fish person and was going to order a whooping 4 lbs of Halibut. But the guy on the phone pooh-poohed me and was ready to hang up saying “it’ll cost more to ship”.  I could tell by the tone of his voice he thought “silly woman. wasting my time”.  Since his tone kind of annoyed me (not the word I would like to use but to be courteous…) I ordered several pounds of different fish, 4 lbs of which were Halibut.  It arrived today and was packaged perfectly. I used 2 fillets for our dinner, Susan wanted one, so I am left will one fillet of Halibut along with the rest of the “catch” tucked away in my freezer. 

Why I was not thrilled with this recipe… First, I didn’t enjoy the spinach. It needed “something”.  Next time, I would saute the spinach with a little garlic, salt and pepper. But I was curious how such a simple method, using the microwave to cook spinach would prove out.  Second, the sauce didn’t have that sweetness I so enjoy with my curry. Typically, raisins are added to my curry dishes and I REALLY wish I had included them tonight. There wasn’t enough flavor imparted into the fish.  Luckily the natural flavor of the fish carried this dish home.

Joanne's dish - no rice

Thanks to Liz of The Not So Skinny Kitchen for picking this recipe because it gave us a chance to enjoy a lovely piece of Halibut and also, now I have 20 lbs of fish in my freezer that I can’t wait to use.  Was I a sucker or what?!

 

Sue's Version of this weeks CEimB

Reminder:  Check out the Give Away for some Bob’s Red Mill GF Products.

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