Sep 29, 2018
: Episode 1157 - Pete Bridges joins Vinnie this Saturday to discuss olive crusted halibut, Pete's NSNG story, and how he has been able to lose weight without exercise (though now he's a big Zone 2 athlete!), and more.
Olive Crusted Halibut
★★★★★
Fish
Prep Time: 10 Cook Time: 20-30 Difficulty: Easy Servings: 2
INGREDIENTS
2 filets of halibut (I suspect it would be good with sea bass or swordfish also)
½ Cup of kalamata olives, pitted
½ Cup of green olives, pitted
1 Tablespoon capers
¼ Cup of plain Pili nuts or pine nuts
1 small clove of fresh garlic, thinly sliced
1 sprig of fresh basil leaves, chopped
¼ Cup of finely grated fresh parmesan (do NOT use the pre-packaged version-it will ruin it!
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 pinch of hatch chile powder or chile flakes to taste
Freshly ground Redmonds Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
DESCRIPTION
Easily one of the simplest, quickest and most impressive recipes in my box of tricks. I first tasted this in one of my favorite restaurants in the world - Steelhead Diner in Seattle. You know it was a great dinner when you can’t stop thinking about weeks later…but I digress. I was so obsessed, in fact, that I decided to try making it and, much to my and Vinnie’s excitement, it was a huge success. NSNG® Approved. Enjoy!
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 350 F
Prepare a roasting pan or baking dish. I like to use parchment paper to avoid the fish sticking to the pan and breaking apart when I serve it. First I smear a tiny drop of olive oil in the bottom of the pan to make the parchment paper stick and then I put the fish on top. If you don’t have any paper drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil in the pan before you put the fish in.
Drain olives and capers well. Place olives, capers, Pili nuts, sliced garlic and chopped basil leaves in a blender. Blend until the mixture forms a thick paste but still has small chunks of olive, nuts etc. You don’t want a puree, it should have texture to it.
Transfer from blender to a mixing bowl and add the pinch of chile, lemon zest, and grated parmesan and season with some lovely chunks of freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.
Lightly rinse fish in cold water and gently pat dry with a paper towel - it helps the crust stick to the fish. Place the fish filets in the roasting pan and, using your hands, scoop up some of the mixture and form an approx. ¼ inch layer of the olive crust on top of the fish. Gently press it onto your filets so that it covers them well.
Place the pan in the upper half of the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until it is cooked to the doneness (is that a word?) that you like. Personally, and professional chefs would throw their hands up in horror at this, I like my fish cooked through. Vinnie prefers it a little less done, but since I’m the cook :)……My rather skinny filets took about 23 mins. If yours are thicker/larger they will take a bit longer.
I served this on creamed spinach (very easy to make) with toasted pine nuts. I poured the run-off cream from the spinach around the edge to make it pretty and because, well, it’s delicious!