If there’s a date that never fails to put a smile on my face, it’s March 15, which is not an obscure holiday but the beginning of Alaskan halibut season. Fish is my favorite thing to eat and cook, and Alaskan halibut is my favorite fish — it’s moist, flavorful, beautiful to behold and fun to butcher, if you can get ahold of a whole fish.
Alaskan halibut makes the best, sweetest fish broth and its collar (the bone behind the head with some of the meat attached) and cheek meat are real delicacies.
My favorite way to prepare halibut is to brown it on one side, then poach it in a broth of fish stock and clam juice. Fish doesn’t taste like anything without some acidity, and this recipe has acidity from the wine, capers and lemon and a little tanginess from the clams.
Poaching means to cook at a gentle simmer. Alaskan halibut is a fairly resilient fish, but if you cook it above a bare simmer, it will toughen, dry out and start to fall apart, so the lower and slower you can cook it the better.
If you can’t get a hold of fresh clams, feel free to use a little bottled clam juice. Also, you may want to invest in a slotted fish spatula ( try to remove the fish with a solid spatula and you will make a mess!).
Poached Halibut With Clams, Leeks and Capers
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
4 leeks
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup dry vermouth or white wine
1 cup chicken or fish stock
1 pound clams, scrubbed
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 4-ounce Alaskan halibut fillets
1 tablespoon capers
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Directions
To clean the leeks, slice the root ends, cut of the dark green tops and remove the outer layer of the leek. Cut the leeks in half vertically, then cut each half into a medium dice. Place the leeks in a bowl of cold water and agitate the leeks in the water so any dirt sinks to the bottom of the bowl. After a few minutes, remove the leeks from the water with a small strainer.
In a deep-sided pan, bring ¼ cup water to a boil over low heat with 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the leeks and a pinch of salt, and cover the pan. Cook 5 minutes, then add the vermouth or white wine. Reduce the vermouth or white wine by half over medium-high heat, then add the stock and clams. Cover and cook for 3 minutes.
Season the halibut fillets with salt and pepper. In another pan, heat the olive oil over high heat and lightly brown the halibut fillets on one side.
Add the halibut fillets to the clam broth and reduce the heat to low. Cook the halibut fillets for about 5 minutes, turning once.
Remove the halibut fillets to a warm place (the clams should have started to open by this point) and raise the heat to high. Reduce the sauce until it begins to thicken, then swirl in the remaining butter, the capers, lemon juice and parsley.
Place each halibut fillet in a warm bowl, then divide the clams and the sauce among each bowl. Serve immediately.
