Summer is a time to pack in as much activity as you can into 90 days, particularly for those of us who live in colder climes when every precious moment of warm sunshine is to be cherished.
Many of you have travelled “across the pond” to enjoy the London Olympics, the rest of the world is enjoying televised coverage, cheering on our countrymen in our favorite sports. The time out in front of the TV helps one recover from all the summer fun we have packed into such a short period of time. As for me, I am still recovering from our family fishing trip to the Northern Pacific Coast of B.C. While we go for the huge salmon, it is the halibut which makes the trip extra special.
Fishing: Time Honored Traditions
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Our fish market of bottom-feeding fish - I have written about our family fishing trip before, offering a salmon mousse rollup as a tribute for my Dad’s birthday and exploring fishing as a sport of gentlemen in the Days of Downton Abbey with a recipe for stuffed wild salmon. Don’t worry; with all the fish stored in our freezer, I will have plenty more salmon stories/recipes to share.
Our favorite fishing grounds are off Dundas Island, just shy of Alaska in Northern B.C. After 20 hours in the truck driving from Calgary and another 5 hours traveling by boat, we arrived at a floating fish dock in a sheltered bay, with 3 days of fishing ahead of us. As for fisherman for generations before us, we time our visit to coincide with the migration of our fish of choice: the mighty Spring Salmon, but to be able to have calm waters to anchor in the open ocean and fish the bottom where the white fish live (halibut, red snapper, and a variety of cod) is a real treat. This year we had perfect conditions and enjoyed a warm sunny afternoon to fish the bottom. I didn’t even get seasick this trip when I was below deck preparing lunch.
Our guide, who worked as a commercial fisherman, taught us how to “bottom bounce” for snapper and cod. When you shop for fish from your local fishmonger, you should remember that much is still fished by line, not nets, which is a lot of work. We did well to catch our limit, and my younger brother Lord C caught a 60 pound halibut. Sports and commercial fishing are regulated to help ensure our waters are not fished. Unfortunately for England (was it their love for fish and chips?) halibut was practically fished out in the North Atlantic in the 19th century and has not recovered its glory days.
While fish and chips would have been a recipe favored by the servants at Downton Abbey, the Crawleys had more discerning palates. As a white mild flavored fish, halibut can be used in various ways to satisfy the tastes both upstairs and down, and I will be sharing some of my favorites over the next few months. Our freezer full of fish also includes red snapper, ling cod, the lovely Spring (Chinook), Coho and pink salmon, so we will explore preparing those types of fish as well.
Hazelnut Crusted Halibut with Boozy Blackberry Sauce
My father—a fisherman at heart and a lawyer by trade—is a tough man to please when it comes to fish. So it thrills me to no end that I was finally able to serve him a halibut dish that met with his approval. He recently ordered a halibut dish at a high-end restaurant that he didn’t care for and suggested the chef try my recipe instead.
My inspiration came from a similar dish served at the Jericho Tennis Club in Vancouver. I lived in Vancouver for two years (pre-Winter Olympics), a wonderful haven for Britons seeking a similar climate to their homeland. I met a wonderful woman who lived close to Jericho Beach, who was a member, so I was often treated to gorgeous views of English Bay, as well as food and excellent cuisine. I couldn’t track down the recipe for my favorite halibut dish they served, so I set out to create my tribute, based on other recipes. I liked the addition of tequila for a bit of punch! I still find it strange to buy blackberries in the store since in Vancouver, you can pick blackberries anywhere, as residents use the thick prickly blackberry hedges as privacy/security barriers to protect their property.
Hazelnut Crusted Halibut with Boozy Blackberry Sauce
Ingredients
Hazelnut Crust
- 1 cup hazelnuts, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp. fresh oregano, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp. cornmeal
- 2 tbsp. Flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Blackberry Sauce
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/4 cup tequila (you can omit if you wish)
- 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/2 tbsp. lime juice
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. honey
- 2 tbsp. sugar or sugar substitute
- 1/2 tbsp. rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cups fresh blackberries
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground
Fish
- 4 6 oz halibut filets or other white fish
Instructions
Prepare the sauce
- Caramelize onions in oil until browned. Add garlic and tequila and reduce until dry.
- Add juices, honey, sugar, vinegar, water and bring to a boil. Add half of the berries and return to a boil.
- Remove from heat and purée mixture until smooth in a blender (or immersion blender).
- Add remaining whole berries and salt and pepper.
- This will yield more than enough sauce for this dinner, so you can store in the fridge for a week or freeze for your next halibut dinner.
Prepare the fish
- Add all the dry crust ingredients and place on a plate. Pour the olive oil on a separate plate. Coat 4 x 6-ounce halibut filets in the olive oil, then the hazelnut mixture, pressing in to get coverage.
- Place on greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Plate by spooning sauce on the plate, then adding the fish. Serve with your favorite vegetables.
