Best Fennel Rubbed Halibut With Fava Bean Ragout Recipes

GRILLED HALIBUT WITH FENNEL, RED ONIONS AND OREGANO

Steps:

• Heat a grill pan or outdoor grill over high heat.
• Drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over the fish and season with salt and pepper. Grill 4 minutes on each side until fish is firm but not tough and cooked through. Grill bread alongside or char under broiler then dress with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper as well.
• Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat.
• While fish cooks, peel the orange as you would a melon: cut off ends, stand it upright and cut off skin and pith in thin strips from top to bottom. Cut orange across into thin slices.
• To preheated skillet add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, the fennel and onions, season with salt and pepper and cook 3 to 5 minutes until seared and beginning to soften. Add vinegar to the pan and give it a shake. Remove from heat and toss in the oranges, the parsley and oregano. Adjust seasoning and serve salad on dinner plates topped with fish, and seasoned bread alongside.

OIL-POACHED HALIBUT WITH FENNEL, TOMATOES, AND MASHED POTATOES

Steps:

• Generously season fish with salt. Coat the bottom of a 3-to-4-quart saucepan or small pot with oil, then nestle fish pieces in, skin-sides down. Add just enough oil to fully submerge fish (about1 cup); attach a deep-fry thermometer to pan. Heat over medium until oil reaches 150 degrees. Reduce heat to low to maintain temperature (remove pan from heat briefly if it climbs above 150 degrees). Cook until fish turns opaque and is just cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness. Remove with a fish spatula or slotted spoon, allowing excess oil to drip back into pot; transfer to a plate, skin-sides up, and loosely.cover with foil to keep warm.
• While the fish is cooking; in a small pot, combine potatoes, 1 tablespoon salt, and enough water to submerge potatoes by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium; simmer potatoes until tender and easily pierced with the tip of a knife., 10-12 minutes. Drain; press potatoes through a ricer back into pot (or, for a chunkier potatoes, use a potato masher). Cover to keep warm.
• Add fennel wedges, tomatoes, olives, and rosemary to pan, adding more oil to fully submerge ifnecessary. Increase heat to medium-high and cook until oil temperature reaches 210 degrees. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain temperature and continue cooking until fennel is tender and easily pierced with the tip of a knife, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove vegetable mixture with a slotted spoon,reserving oil for potatoes.
• Add milk and 1/4 cup reserved oil to potatoes, stirring until smooth. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more oil. Remove skin from fish and serve over potatoes, with vegetable mixture and a drizzle of poaching oil.

SEARED HALIBUT WITH WALLA WALLA SPRING ONIONS, FAVA BEANS AND SH

Steps:

• Heat 2 teaspoons of the vegetable oil in a heavy saute pan over high heat. Season both sides of the halibut fillets with salt and pepper.
• Once oil is hot, add seasoned halibut. Sear the fish until it's just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes each side, depending on thickness. Remove to a platter and keep warm.
• Add remaining oil to the saute pan and, over medium-high heat, saute onions, garlic, fava beans and shiitake mushrooms until the onions are tender, about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add chicken broth, bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
• Remove from heat and whisk in butter, tarragon and lemon juice, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• To serve, place rice in middle of each plate and place halibut fillet on top of rice. Using a slotted spoon, spoon the fava bean and shiitake mixture over the fillets, then drizzle with the pan sauce. Garnish with reserved green onion tops.
• Note: Find Walla Walla spring onions at farmers markets and specialty markets. You can substitute 4 to 6 scallions.
• Note: To blanch and peel fava beans, boil shelled beans for about 50 seconds. Remove beans from pot and immediately plunge into cold water. Drain beans and remove whitish skins, using your fingernail to open the spongy skins, and then pinch the beans free.

HALIBUT WITH VEGETABLE RAGOûT

Steps:

• Raise oven rack to top and turn on broiler. Blend parsley, broth, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and 1/4 cup oil in food processor on low for 2 minutes. Set aside. Coat medium-sized sauté pan with cooking spray, then add garlic and shallots; cook 1 minute. Mix in mushrooms and green onions and cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add thyme, oregano, and wine, stirring until liquid thickens. Add beans, potatoes, and parsley-oil mix. Brush halibut with 1 tbsp oil, season with remaining salt and pepper and broil 2 or 3 minutes on each side or until firm. Serve immediately in a bowl with ragout.

FENNEL-RUBBED HALIBUT WITH FAVA BEAN RAGOUT

Steps:

• Prepare a medium-hot fire (450°F) in a wood-fired grill.
• Combine the fennel seeds and olive oil to create a paste. Add the salt and pepper. Rub each fillet with the mixture and set aside at room temperature.
• To make the ragout, bring the white wine and stock to a low boil in a small nonreactive saucepan. Add the saffron threads, remove from the heat, and set aside.
• Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes, then add the leeks and mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the thyme sprigs. Add the saffron liquid and stir to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, the fava beans, and carrots and cook over low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until the favas and carrots are tender. Remove the thyme and add the parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm.
• Oil the grill grids and add the halibut. Cover and cook on one side until the flesh is opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes. (With the lid closed, the delicate halibut does not need to be turned over and cooked on both sides.) Transfer to a warmed platter, grilled side up, surround with the ragout, and serve.
• Cleaning Leeks
• Leeks add an incredible depth of flavor to homemade soups, but they are like sand traps. Trim off the root ends, then make two perpendicular cuts down the entire length of the dark green leaves. Swish the leeks in a bowl of warm water (I find that cold water makes the sand cling), separating the dark green leaves to expose any sand. Then chop them and swish around in a fresh bowl of water. Lift out chopped leeks with your fingers, allowing any sediment to sink to the bottom of the bowl
• steaming fava beans
• Rather than the tedious three-step method of shelling, blanching, and peeling fava beans, try this time-saver from Paula Wolfert.
• Place unshelled fava beans in a steamer rack over boiling water; cover and cook until wilted, about 15 minutes. Remove from the steamer and let cool to the touch. Remove the pods, then remove the skin from each fava bean.
• If the beans will be cooked further, cut back a bit on the steaming time so the beans will be slightly undercooked when skinned.