BBQ Halibut with Mango Salsa

I love summer! It is my absolute favorite time of the year - the sunshine, the bright colours, the warm air and the general feeling of happiness and lightness in the air. I love to transfer those colours and feelings onto my plate at meal time - anything bright, light and fun and I'm in! That's exactly what this dish is all about. Summertime on a plate!

BBQ Halibut with Mango Salsa
Recipe by A Tale of One Foodies Culinary Adventures

Ingredients:

Halibut:

• Two pieces of fresh halibut
• 1 tsp each: cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, ground coriander, sugar, salt and pepper

Salsa:

• 1/2 an avocado, diced
• 1 mango, diced
• 1 small jalapeño, diced
• 3 tbsp. fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 4 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tsp olive oil

Salad:

• Arugula
• Sprouts (any kind will do)
• Pea shoots
• a handful of tortilla strips
• juice of 1/2 lime
• drizzle of olive oil

Method:

1. For the halibut - preheat your grill. Sprinkle spice rub evenly over both sides of the halibut. Pat the spice rub into the fish. Grill seasoned halibut on the grill until just cooked through and remove from heat.
2. While the halibut is cooking, combine the salsa ingredients and stir well. Set aside to let the flavours marry.
3. Divide arugula, sprouts and pea shoots between two places. Drizzle with lime juice and olive oil. Sprinkle with tortilla strips. Top with grilled halibut and spoon salsa over liberally. Enjoy!

What's your summer cooking philosophy? Do you have a favorite meal that you only make during the summer? Feel free to share in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Cooking!

Potato Fish Cakes

Remember that delicious Pan Roasted Halibut in a Potato Dill Crust we made yesterday? Well, here is a perfect recipe to use up the leftovers. We all know leftover fish never tastes good like it did when it was first cooked. But this recipe turns leftover fish and leftover mashed potatoes into something fresh, crisp and delicious!! It was no problem getting hubby to eat leftovers when I served them to him like this. :)

Potato Fish Cakes
Inspired by Chef at Home - by Michael Smith

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces leftover pan roasted halibut
• a couple cups of leftover roasted garlic mashed potatoes (or regular would work too)
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 eggs, whisked together
• 1 tbsp hot sweet mustard
• 1/4 cup fresh dill, finely minced
• 1 red jalepeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
• 1 recipe potato dill crust from yesterdays Pan Roasted Halibut in a Potato Dill Crust
• a couple tbsp butter
• a couple lugs of olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat saute pan or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add a splash of oil to the pan and a tbsp of butter to coat the bottom of the skillet with a thin film.
2. With a potato masher, mash the leftover halibut and the potatoes with the eggs, mustard, dill, jalepeno pepper until combined. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
3. Prepare potato dill crust. Using approximately 1/4 cup portions of the potato fish mixture, shape into patties. Dredge in the potato dill crust mixture until well coated. Add to hot skillet and fry until bottom is golden and crisp. Flip and repeat on the other side.
4. Repeat until all cakes are cooked. Serve with lemon dill cream or leftover roasted garlic cream sauce from yesterdays recipe.

These are so unbelievably delicious! I couldn't get over how good they were. I never ever eat leftover fish, but going forward, I will always make an exception for this recipe. You can also use salmon or other types of fish in this recipe. You can mix up the herbs or omit the spicy pepper depending on your tastes. Be creative and cook what you like!

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Pan Roasted Halibut in Potato Dill Crust with Roasted Garlic Cream

Happy Wednesday everyone! We are over halfway through this week... and for me that is a good thing!! It is smokin' busy at work this week with deadlines everywhere I look. I can't wait for the weekend (even though I'll likely have to work part of it... Its still the weekend!!). I've been looking forward to sharing this post with you all week. Don't judge a post by its pictures (well at least, not in this case), because this is seriously good! You MUST make it this weekend when you have time. Even non-fish lovers will seriously love this meal. Its delicious and it doesn't get that typical "fishy" taste or smell that some fish dishes get.

 

This recipe is from my new cookbook No More Secrets, Recipes from the Cow Bay Cafe by Adriene Johnston. This is a seriously amazing cookbook!! The best part about it is that its written by a womon from a small town in Northern British Columbia right near where I grew up. Soooo of course I'm going to love it.

Any way, lets check out this recipe - I'm a little tired right now because I just worked a 14 hour day, so please excuse me if my post isn't as coherent (or as long) as usual. :)

 Pan Roasted Halibut

Recipe from No More Secrets

Ingredients:

Roasted Garlic:

• 6 bulbs garlic
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, halved
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Garlic Cream:

• 1 bulb roasted garlic
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1 tsp kosher salt (I would probably just use half a tsp next time i make this - it was a touch salty)
• 1/4 tsp chile flakes
• a little fresh grated nutmeg
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp whole fresh black peppercorns

Potato Crust:

• 3/4 c instant dry potato flakes
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dry dill
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 c fresh dill, finely chopped

• 6 8-oz pieces fresh halibut (thawed, frozen halibut will work in a pinch too)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. To roast garlic, remove the excess outer skin, trim off the stem end and place the garlic bulbs in a small pie pan. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place the rosemary sprigs on top of the garlic. Drizzle the olive oil over the garlic bulbs. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and roast in the preheated oven for 50 minutes and reserve.
3. To make the garlic cream, add the cream, salt, chile flakes, bay leaf and peppercorns. Squeeze out the soft garlic from the roasted garlic bulb and add it to the cream. Drop the skins into the sauce too. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until thickened and reduced by half.
4. Strain the garlic mixture through a sieve and press on the garlic until it is all pushed through the sieve and you are only left with the skins and debris. Discard the stuff in the sieve and reserve the cream until needed. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cream to prevent the formation of a skin.
5. For the potato crust, simply combine the potato flakes, salt, garlic powder, dry dill, pepper, and fresh dill in a bowl. Mix together and reserve until needed.
6. Place two large skillets in the oven and heat for 15 minutes.
7. When you are ready to cook, dry the pieces of halibut and dredge them in the potato crust mixture.
8. Remove the hot skillets from the oven and place over medium high heat. Pour about four tsp of vegetable oil into the skillet and then place fish in the skillets. Do not crowd the pans. Allow the fish to cook in the oil until the bottoms are golden brown and crisp-looking.
9. Gently flip the fish over and then put the pans into the oven and cook for about 7 minutes per inch of thickness at the thickest part of the fish.
10. When cooked, remove the fish to the serving dishes and pour some of the garlic cream into the hot pans. When cream is hot, pour it over the cooked fish. Serve with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli.

  



I know, this seems like a lot of steps, but it really does come together relatively quickly. You can roast the garlic and make the garlic cream sauce ahead of time if you're having a dinner party and then all you've got to do is cook the fish and you're set to impress your guests.

Hope you enjoy this one. Stay tuned for a delicious post tomorrow on how to use the leftovers from this recipe (if you're lucky enough to have leftovers!).

Happy Cooking my Friends!