Olive Oil-Poached Halibut with Fennel, Rosemary, and Garlic (p. 180)

If you've been reading my blog since the beginning, you may remember I bought some not so fresh shrimp from Heinen's when I made Shrimp with Dill Vinaigrette (after which Heinen's sent me a gift card to cover the cost of the bad shrimp, just one example of their amazing customer service). In that post, I also discussed that it was difficult to find fresh fish in Cleveland. Well, in the five months since that post I've learned a lot about cooking fish and also realized that there is plenty of good quality, fresh fish in Cleveland. While nothing will compare to the fresh grouper I prepared in St. Martin, I have found delicious fresh fish at Kate's Fish at the Westside Market and I'm happy that I can also write positively about the some of the fish at Heinens.

Heinen's recently started carrying fresh, line caught halibut, cod, and salmon that is over nighted from Alaska. When I heard about this, I knew I wanted to try the halibut for Iron Chef Symon's Olive Oil-Poached Halibut with Fennel, Rosemary, and Garlic (p. 180). So I headed to the Heinen's in Avon. The fish counter is very friendly and helpful so don't be afraid to ask questions about how to prepare the fish, where it comes from, or for it to be cut to your exact needs. I went in on a Sunday after church and they told me that the only receive shipments during the week so my fish came in on Friday afternoon. Regardless, the fish was caught on Tuesday, cleaned and processed Wednesday, shipped out Thursday and on our dinner table Sunday. It was never frozen no disgusting chemicals were used to lengthen the life of the fish.

I ordered one pound of halibut, cut into two fillets, and asked that the skin be removed. When I got home I examined the fillets, I was pleased to find extremely fresh fish. The fillets were firm and had a slight smell of the sea, but none of the "fishy" smell that turns people off and is a sign of fish that is not very fresh. Unfortunately the people at the counter forgot to remove the skin for me and also did not cut the fillets into even sized fillets. I'll chalk that up to the fact that I went during the middle of their "seafood extravaganza" and it was very busy. Luckily, the skin was very easy to pull off. I used a knife to loosen the skin from the flesh in one corner and then used a paper towel to grab the skin and pull it from the fish.

Few ingredients let the flavor of the fish shine through

This dish is about as easy as they come so far in my mission to cook through Live to Cook. There are very few ingredients and it requires very little prep work. To get started, I quartered the fennel and shallot, smashed the garlic, and bruised the rosemary to help it release more oil.

I combined all the ingredients except the fish in a sauce pan on the stove and slowly brought the oil up to 140 degrees. In the picture below, you'll notice I used a probe thermometer to closely monitor the temperature of the oil.

Halibut poaching in olive oil

As I mentioned when I made the snapper, I find cooking fish more challenging than most foods, but I found poaching in olive oil to be extremely easy. Once the oil reached 140 degrees, I let it sit for a while so the aromatics could permeate the oil. After 20 minutes or so, I used my fish turner to gently slide the fish in. The oil looked crowded already with the aromatics so I was wondering if the fish would fit, but there was plenty of room.

Fifteen minutes later

After about 15 minutes, I pulled one of the pieces of fish from the oil and checked its temperature. It was right around 110 degrees so I placed it on a paper towel to drain and removed the fillet.

Delicious, healthy dinner

I really enjoyed this dinner, although my wife thought it was a little bland. The fish from Heinen's was very fresh and the aromatics in the oil gave it a subtle flavor of anise and garlic, while letting the taste of the fish really be the star. I served the fish with some roasted asparagus and sauteed ramps and it made for a delicious, healthy meal.

The only thing that will keep me from poaching in olive oil on a regular basis is that it takes a full quart of olive oil, which is not exactly ideal for the home kitchen. For this dish, I selected a moderately priced, Heinen's brand olive oil. I definitely would not recommend using an expensive olive oil for this preparation! So I'm wondering, has anyone else poached fish in olive oil? Do you reuse the olive oil? If so, do you only use it for more fish or do you use it for other things too? Obviously it will be scented with the aromatics, but I'm hoping the fish flavor will not linger. I saved the oil and am planning to give it a try but I'm interested in your thoughts as well.

This post was sponsored by Heinen's, which of course means I've got another giveaway for you. Instead of Viking passes I am giving away a gift certificate good at any of Heinen's 17 stores in the Cleveland area. Simply leave a comment, any comment on this post to enter. As always, I welcome multiple entries if you Tweet / Facebook about the giveaway. I'll pick a winner in a week but in the mean time, head over to Heinen's and check out some of the their fresh, Alaskan fish.

Cost

I will provide the approximate cost for each recipe in the book, as well as the source of the products used.

It cost about $24.91 to make Michael Symon's Olive Oil-Poached Halibut with Fennel, Rosemary, and Garlic (p. 180).

Olive oil - $4.99

Halibut - $17.45

Fennel - $1.47

Miscellaneous (shallot, garlic, rosemary, salt, crushed red pepper) - $1

All the ingredients for this dish were provided by Heinen's.