Southern California Halibut With Lemon Olive Oil Sweet Bell Pepper And Anchovy Food

LEMON HERB BAKED HALIBUT (PARVE, PASSOVER)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Line a shallow glass dish with parchment paper, and place the halibut fillets in the dish in a single layer.
• In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, basil, salt, and pepper.
• Pour the marinade over the fish. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 450 F/230 C. Pour the marinade out of the dish.
• Bake the fish, uncovered, in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until the fish easily flakes with a fork. Serve immediately.

CUMIN-SEARED HALIBUT WITH SWEET CORN SAUCE

Steps:

• For the sweet corn sauce: In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the canola oil, onions, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Sweat on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the wine, if using, and cook until it evaporates, about 5 minutes.
• Add the corn kernels, reserved cobs and stock. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes.
• For the halibut: Meanwhile, in a large plastic bag, combine 5 teaspoons of the canola oil, the cumin, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper with the halibut fillets and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• Discard the corn cobs, thyme and bay leaf from the sauce. Carefully pour the mixture into a blender and puree on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes. The natural starches will activate and thicken the sauce. Pour the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan. Simmer over low heat until it reduces by half, about 15 minutes.
• To finish the halibut, in a medium sauté pan, heat the butter and remaining 3 teaspoons canola oil over high heat until the butter melts and the oil is hot (a little smoke indicates it's ready). Place the halibut fillets in the pan skin-side up and cook until a nice crust forms on the bottoms, about 4 minutes. Carefully flip the fillets and cook 3 minutes more. Lower the heat and continue to cook until the internal temperature registers 140 degrees F, about 4 minutes. Let rest, covered with foil, for a few minutes. Serve topped with the sweet corn sauce.

ROASTED HALIBUT WITH LEMONS, OLIVES AND ROSEMARY

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place fish in a baking dish, brush fillets with 1 teaspoon of oil and season with salt and chile pepper. Top each fillet with a rosemary branch and several slices of lemon. Drizzle remaining oil over lemon slices and sprinkle with additional salt. Scatter olives over fish and pan.
• Bake until just opaque, about 10 minutes. If lemon slices have not browned or singed (this will depend on how thinly you slice them), place pan under broiler for 1 to 2 minutes. Serve drizzled with more olive oil; sprinkle with more salt and chili, if desired.

HALIBUT WITH LEMON, SPINACH, AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• In a large saute pan over medium-high heat add the olive oil and heat. When oil is hot, place the halibut steaks in pan and cook 3 to 4 minutes each side, or until a fork can be easily inserted into the fish. Season, to taste, with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
• In another large saute pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and butter. Add the spinach gradually along with the crushed garlic and salt. Saute until the spinach is wilted. Season, to taste, with lemon juice and pepper.
• In a small saucepan combine the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, salt, and kalamata olives. Heat quickly on high heat so that the tomatoes do not turn into a sauce.
• Put spinach in center of each plate then place the piece of halibut in the center of the spinach. Spoon the sauce over the halibut and garnish with fresh basil.

PASTA WITH CARAMELIZED PEPPERS, ANCHOVIES AND RICOTTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, according to package instructions, until the pasta is just al dente.
• As pasta cooks, heat a large sauté pan over medium-high, and add 3 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the anchovies and rosemary, and sauté until the anchovies start to dissolve, about 1 minute. Add the garlic and red-pepper flakes, and sauté until the garlic turns pale golden in spots, about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add the bell peppers and a large pinch of salt to the pan, and sauté until the bell peppers are very soft and well caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes, lowering the heat if the peppers start becoming too dark. Add the wine (or water) and the butter, and sauté, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Taste and season with lemon juice and more salt as needed.
• Put 1/4 cup ricotta and the scallions in a large serving bowl, and season aggressively with black pepper.
• Use a coffee mug or measuring cup to scoop about 1/2 cup pasta water from the pot. Drain the pasta, then add it to the bowl with the ricotta and scallions, tossing well. Add the bell pepper mixture and the herbs, and toss well, adding a splash or two of pasta water if the mixture looks dry. Taste and season with more salt if needed.
• Spoon pasta into bowls, and top with dollops of the remaining 1/4 cup ricotta, a drizzle of oil and a little Parmesan, if you like. Shower torn herb leaves over all.

PEPPERS AND ANCHOVIES

Steps:

• Cut peppers in large strips, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top each with an anchovy fillet. Drizzle with olive oil and optional lemon juice or vinegar. Serve on rounds of bread with capers, if you like.

SEARED HALIBUT WITH ANCHOVIES, CAPERS AND GARLIC

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat, and leave it there until hot. Add oil and butter together. Butter should sizzle. When butter foam subsides, add fish, and season it lightly with salt and pepper. Brown fish, basting with pan juices, then turn, and brown again. Do not worry about cooking through. Turn off heat, put fish on an ovenproof plate, and place it in oven.
• Turn heat under skillet to medium, and add anchovies and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until anchovies break up, just a couple of minutes. Add capers and wine, and turn heat to high. Cook until wine is reduced by half. Return fish and its juices to pan, and turn it in sauce once or twice. Fish should be cooked through by now. (A thin-bladed knife inserted into its thickest part will meet little resistance.)
• Taste sauce, add some lemon juice, then taste again. It should be strong-tasting but only mildly acidic. Remove fish to serving plate, spoon sauce on top, and garnish with parsley.

STUFFED SWEET BELL PEPPERS

Steps:

• Cut the tops off peppers, clean out the seeds and any heavy membranes, and set into 2 (lightly oiled)deep baking dishes.
• Saute 2 of the onions with the (diced) tops of the peppers in olive oil.
• Set aside to allow to cool.
• Saute remaining onion (until translucent) and garlic in olive oil in saucepan (add the garlic in last 3 minutes, so it does not burn).
• Add the tomato sauce (reserve about 1/4 cup), diced tomato (if no fresh tomato is available, a small can of diced tomato works fine), and sugar.
• Let sauce simmer gently while stuffing peppers.
• Slightly beat egg in a medium bowl.
• Add ground beef, the reserved tomato sauce, rice, sauted peppers/onion mixture, and spices.
• Mix lightly and fill peppers.
• Add sauce to baking dish.
• Bake (covered) at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, putting cheese on top during last 15 minutes of baking time.
• Serve with a green vegetable or salad.