Poached Halibut With Curry Sauce

My fascination with fish and curry sauces continues to direct my culinary endeavors. Our local fishmonger and his staff carry on to direct our path, by how I want to prepare the fish, and then what is the freshest they have. Now, as they have gotten to know us better, they are holding back some of their best catches for us until we arrive on Wednesday mornings. 

This weeks recommendations were either Red Snapper, or Halibut. We ended up with the Halibut because they had a fillet that was screaming out my name... The fillet was a good 1 1/2" to 2" thick and right at one pound, perfect for my initial dinner plans.

Fresh Halibut fillet marinated with Black garlic EVOO and S&P

I was planning on a curry sauce and knew that the Halibut would be strong enough to support the flavors I was going to throw at the fillet.

I decided that I wanted another day to plan the meal so I kept the fillet on ice (in a plastic bag) in a cooler overnight in our extra fridge. Packing it with 2 freezer blocks to keep it very cold but not frozen. The ice did not melt and the fish did not freeze overnight.

The plan; I wanted to focus on the curry this time and decided to make 2 curry sauces separately from the veggies. Separately I made both a yellow and a red curry sauce, combining them in layers, served beside the fish and vegetable on a large platter. The meal was one of the most difficult I've created, mainly because I could easily have destroy the Halibut...

For dinner tonight we had; pan seared (one side) Halibut that was marinated for 1 hour in Black garlic EVOO and S&P. 

Flesh side seared Halibut

The Halibut was topped with 2 dollops of a compound brown butter made with diced shallot, S&P and Balsamic vinegar. The fillet was then oven poached for 30-35 minutes (covered) in a Black garlic EVOO bath.

Prepped Halibut for poaching

While the Halibut was poaching I made Baby Bok Choy sauteed in Black garlic EVOO, Tamarin sauce, Marshalla, butter and S&P. 

Fresh Baby Bok Choy

To finish off the dish I added Sun dried tomato Risotto. The two curry sauces were made earlier in the day and kept warm until time to serve and thickened just before plating. The yellow curry sauce was laid down first and then the red was added and slightly mixed into the yellow. 

Finished meal served on platter

Overall, it all turned out well, good enough to keep and file away. I find that I like the sauce on the side of the protein and vegetables, then you can choose your taste mix.

Here is the recipe for the Poached Halibut, enjoy;

Poached Halibut Fillet

★★★★★

Poppy's Originals

Prep Time: 15 Min Cook Time: 30-45 Min Total Time: 45 Min - 1 Hr Difficulty: Easy Servings: 2 Source: To Cook is To Heal

INGREDIENTS

1 lbs. (+/-) fresh Halibut fillet or steak

1-2 cups Black garlic EVOO *

1/2 tsp. (+/- to taste) ground Maldon Sea Salt Flakes **

1/4 tsp. (+/- to taste) fresh fine grind black pepper

2 large dollops favorite compound butter

Substitutions

* = (EVOO) regular extra virgin olive oil

** = your favorite ground sea salt

DESCRIPTION

There is something about a nice thick fish fillet poached in EVOO. The flavor of the fish is enhanced and not overwhelmed. Giving you many options for side dishes and sauces. My favorite is plating the poached Halibut with the following sides, two different curry sauces, sautéed Baby Bok Choy, and Sun dried tomato risotto.

DIRECTIONS

Look for the thickest (2 inch +/-) Halibut fillets (steaks) you can find. Remove (or have removed) the skin if there is any on the fillet. You can leave the skin on a Halibut steak.
Coat both sides of the fillet with Black garlic EVOO. Sprinkle ground Maldon sea salt flakes and fine ground black pepper on each side (to taste). Put fillet in sealable oven proof dish, with sides higher than the fillet, and refrigerate for 1 hour before poaching.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees, rack in middle position.
Sear, flesh side only of the fillet (1 side of steak) in a skillet on medium high heat for 1-3 minutes or just until it starts to brown, remove from heat, do not over cook. Immediately put fillet into dish to be used for poaching, seared side up.
To poach fillet, pour enough olive oil into dish with seared fillet to come 1/3 (+/-) of the way up the side of the fillet. Spoon two large dollops of your favorite compound butter on top of fillet. Cover dish tightly with oven proof lid or aluminum foil. Put dish on middle rack and poach for 30-35 (+/-) minutes, or until the olive oil is bubbling (simmering). Fish should flake easily, not crumble.
Remove from oven, remove lid and let stand for 3-5 minutes. Portion and serve immediately with prepared sides. Fish cools quickly.

NOTES

The poached Halibut I like to serve on a platter with the following sides; two colors of curry sauce, sautéed Baby Bok Choy or sautéed Belgium Endive and your favorite risotto.
I prefer my compound brown butter with diced shallots, Balsamic vinegar and S&P, or a compound butter with lemon/lime/fresh ginger zest and S&P. Warm platter in oven before plating (do not heat platter).

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