Frazzled (Halibut steak)




Tyler and baby Henry are here for a visit so I’m enjoying having an appreciative diner in-house, (Henry is toothless and on a liquid diet.)  They do provide distraction to the detriment of my cooking however.  At least, I guess that’s what happened yesterday.

I baked a batch of cookies first thing to accompany an almond pudding for dessert. I was congratulating myself for saving the last egg in the house for the pudding and entirely overlooked adding any sugar.  I discovered this after I’d cooked the pudding so I improvised by adding honey since it’s already liquid. 

The dinner menu was Hazelnut-coated Halibut steaks on a bed of **grilled Romaine lettuce with a blackberry Gastrique sauce and a fresh Corn Salad.  Pretty straight forward cooking. 

I allowed 45 minutes for the mesquite chips to achieve temperature in my Smoky Joe bbq-uer where I planned to grill corn-on-the-cob followed by the lettuce.    I got the bbq chimney going (because, big surprise, I don’t use lighter fluid,) and kept an eye on the smoke from the occasional glance out the kitchen window.  It went out.  So I tried again.  It went out again.  I tried again. 

On the third try, I was back in the kitchen, reading the recipe for the corn salad for the umpth time when I discovered I shouldn’t have husked the corn until after it was cooked.  Oh yeah, and the flame was out yet again on the bbq.  I was flummoxed.  This was right when Terry arrived.  Had he not been coming for dinner, I'd have shoved everything into the fridge and Tyler and I'd resort to oatmeal.  

I was standing there in a dazed state.  He said, “You seem a little tense.”  Indeed.  He jumped right in to help.  He got the bbq lit and made the sauce for the halibut.  And it all came together for a remarkably delicious meal thanks to him. 

**Tyler heard about grilling Romaine but none of us had tried this method before.  I cut a Romaine heart in two, drizzled olive oil and lemon-pepper on the cut side before placing on the (finally hot) grill.  I removed it when the grilled side looked wilted.  It was smoky and delicious!

Terry made the Gastrique with my oft mentioned blackberry vinegar, sugar sweetened with fresh thyme and shallots and finished with cold, cold butter.  It was wonderful on the fish with a very complex sweet and sour flavor.
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Hazelnut-crust for the 2 lbs halibut steaks divided in four portions:

8 ounces hazelnuts, lightly toasted and skinned.
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbl. grated lemon zest (this is the secret ingredient)

Combine in blender and pulse until finely chopped but not so fine as a meal.  Set aside in a large shallow dish.  Dip fish portions in melted butter then coat in crust mixture on all sides.  Grease a rimmed baking sheet with oil.   Preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake fish 8 to 10 minutes depending on thickness. 
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The pudding did not set up.  It was runny and lumpy and generally unappealing.  Tyler ate it though.  The cookies were good!

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