Tag: cooking

Recipe: Perfect Halibut!

One of the best things about living in Alaska: free fish! Okay, so not always free. Sometimes we spend a lot of money on fishing gear, or charters, or maybe we even give up and (gasp) buy fish at the store. But most Alaskans have also benefited from the gift of fish. It’s just one of those things, and it’s glorious. So when my future brother-in-law gifted us with fresh halibut, it knocked all other protein out of the top spot for our next dinner. It turned out perfectly cooked – flaky, moist, with a lemony buttery caper sauce to top it off. Here’s what I did.

Ingredients:

  • Halibut (I had two individual portions, probably about 6 ounces each)
  • 1 Tb. olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 3 Tb. butter, divided
  • 1/4 cup white wine (keeping it classy, I used boxed chardonnay)
  • A few lemon slices
  • Annnnnd 2 Tb. lemon juice
  • 1 Tb. parsley
  • 2 Tb. capers
  • 1-2 minced garlic cloves

Tools you will need:

  • A pan that can go in the oven
  • A good broad spatula to scoop out the halibut

Directions:

  1. Put your oven-save pan in the oven (cast iron would be ideal), and turn the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Wait 15 minutes.
  3. And in the meantime, prep your fish. If it has skin on, remove it (look to YouTube for how-to videos – you need a flat cutting surface and a big sharp knife). Sprinkle salt and pepper on the halibut’s pretty (no-skin) side.
  4. After your 15 minutes are up and the oven and pan are hot, remove the pan (POTHOLDER!!) and put it on the stove top. Add a splash of olive oil, and a tablespoon of butter. These will melt quickly and sizzle. As they do, place your fish pretty side down in the pan. Place the lemon slices in the pan. Return this to the oven.
  5. Cook your halibut unbothered for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove, turn off the oven, transfer halibut to a plate (I use pie pan tins – I have a million of them and they are endlessly useful during cooking).
  6. Strain the pan juices to get any bits and solids out and return the liquid to the hot pan over medium heat (again, potholder!).
  7. Add your garlic and cook for 1 minute.
  8. Add your wine and cook until it cooks down to almost gone.
  9. Add lemon juice, parsley and capers and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
  10. Stir in 1-2 Tb. butter to taste, and return your fish to the pan for only about 30 seconds as you spoon the mixture over the fish.
  11. Plate fish with a generous spoonful of sauce overtop. Serve the remaining sauce on the side to share.

The most challenging thing about this recipe is it’s fast-paced and, of course, it’s really easy to overcook fish. Your finished halibut should flake moistly at a fork’s prodding.

Pro tips: don’t skimp, use fresh lemons and fresh parsley. No plastic squeezy lemon or parsley flakes, please.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Taco Time!

Who doesn’t love tacos? This versatile dish can be served morning to midnight, hard or soft, with proteins ranging from fish to chicken to beef, with fillings that will help clean out a fridge. What’s not to love?

This particular recipe is flavorful, elegant, and simple. You’ll enjoy bright darts of lime, bold undercurrents of savory heat, and that rich dark chicken meat that adds a luscious layer of taste. You could top it with sour cream, hot sauces, cabbage slaw, raw onion, black olives, Mexican white cheese or cheddar, avocado — it’s one of those great recipes to throw down when you’re about to do a grocery run and need to make space. Here’s how we did it:

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • Chipotle peppers in adobe sauce (canned)
  • A teaspoon of garlic powder
  • A half teaspoon of cumin
  • Salt
  • A lime
  • A can of black beans, drained and rinsed
  • And for the pickled red onions: 1 red onion, 1.5 cups of cider vinegar, a few spoonfuls of sugar and a dash of salt

Materials needed:

  • An Instant Pot
  • A big mason jar (for pickling the onions)
  • A small saucepan (for boiling the stuff to make the pickled onions)

Directions for pickling onions:

So easy! We hear “pickling” and we imagine Ma Ingalls spending hours on the prairie. Lies! Here’s how easy it is:

  • Slice 1/2-1 red onion thinly, put in heat-safe container
  • Bring 1.5 cups apple cider vinegar to a boil
  • Add the sugar and dash of salt to vinegar and whisk to blend
  • Pour over onions
  • And done!

You can serve immediately or keep in the fridge in a well-sealed container for a couple weeks. Happy pickling!

Taco recipe:

  • In Instant Pot, combine broth, honey, chopped up chipotles* and some adobe juice, and spices.
  • About the chipotle: it’s hard to say how many to use, because heat tolerance and pepper levels vary. I pulled out one full pepper plus a bunch of bits and pieces and finely diced them and it was tasty!
  • Add chicken thighs. Turn over a couple times to coat.
  • Seal pot; set on high pressure for 13 minutes. Let natural release for 5, then release pressure.
  • Remove chicken and use forks to shred it apart. It will be SO TENDER — thank you Instant Pot! This shouldn’t be hard at all.
  • Meanwhile, put your IP on the sauté setting and let the mixture cook down.
  • Return chicken to pot; add black beans and squeeze half your lime in, add a dash of salt. After it cooks for a minute, taste; you may want to add more lime or salt. Let simmer a minute or two more until beans are heated through and softened.

And that’s it! Serve with warm tortillas (for a bonus, see my previous blog entry on making tortillas from scratch – so worth it!). Toppings include your amazing pickled onions, a cabbage slaw, rough-chopped fresh cilantro, sour cream avocado or guacamole, and more!

PRO TIP on guacamole, especially for my fellow Alaskans; getting great avocados up here can be such a chore. Buy the individual Costco hummus servings and freeze them — either the smashed avocado or guacamole. Take them out of the freezer the night before, and they’ll be ready to go! Calorie-controlled, and guaranteed quality.

First Class Caesar

 

This Caesar was inspired by a dish Alaska Airlines serves in its First Class cabin.

I fly a lot, and this salad is the first time I’ve ever attempted to replicate a meal served in First Class. Thanks to Alaska Airlines and their delicious rendition of a Caesar, I assembled this tasty and healthy dinner: shreds of rotisserie chicken atop mixed greens, sprinkled with grated parmesan and a scoop of quinoa and brown rice, topped with Caesar dressing. Simple, delicious, and fast!

Soup’s on: an Alaska winter cure-all

Lemon juice and zest upgrades this soup with a citrus zing of flavor.

Dark, cold Alaska winters may singularly inspire no cuisine more than soup. There’s something comforting about having a simmering pot on the stove. This recent batch of lemon orzo soup was a huge hit. We’ll definitely make this again.