Roasted Whole Fish

[Mikey]

Bought a hunk of Pacific halibut at Costco today. Not really the whole fish but a 2 lb section (about 4 inches across) with skin and bone still on.

The fillets there are something like $17.99/lb but these pieces are $8.99 so I thought I'd try oven roasting one.

I've never done one of these before but my plan is to season the whole thing with EVOO, S&P, and then stuff some lemon slices, herbs and a few cloves of garlic in the cavity. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or so and it should be good.

Any good ideas for variations on this?

[Dinsdale]

I think you're doing just fine.

Must have been one dinky halibut if 4" is only 2 lbs.

A trick that works for salmon (no idea about halibut) is to spread mayo all over the skin. Doesn't really impart any flavor at all, but serves as a "thickened grease" to stick to the skin, and it tend to make the skin fall off.

Probably bake that badboy at a fairly low temp (maybe 300?) and be careful not to overcook it -- keep that shit tender. Halibut is pretty darn good for store-bought stale shit.

Sounds like you got one hell of a deal on it, so enjoy.

Maybe I'll catch one, one of these years (we're at the extreme southern end of the habitat, so they're really careful about not shrinking the edges of the habitat, so the season lasts a few days every year... and the halibut, being the edge of the habitat, are generally pretty small here -- an 80#er is a monster. And they're way out in the ocean, which isn't really my deal).

[Mikey]

I took a closer look and it's more like 3" across and 2 1/2 pounds, maybe 9 inches wide. Cut must be from close to the tail because the sides are tapered and there's not that much rib, but a nice thick slab of flesh. Still yes a pretty small halibut, especially if you're talking Alaskan halibut which can be about the size of your front door. This may be a California fish, which are normally a fraction of that size.

The Ducks are absolutely embarrassing USC, BTW.

[mvscal]

Any good ideas for variations on this?

Braise it, bone it and eat it, beyaaatch.

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=35914

You'll have to scale up a bit but you've done ossobuco so you should have something big enough to brown and braise a 2lbs slab of fish. I would make an effort to find an real Spanish Albarino. It shouldn't be that difficult.

For the linguine, I just tossed it with evoo warmed with a little crushed red pepper.

[Ken]

Probably a little too late for ya’ now, but here’s something I did w/Tuna a few years ago which I think would work well with a flaky fish like Halibut. Been long enough ago that I don’t remember exactly what I seasoned the tuna with, but I assume salt and pepper then seared. Prior to searing, I made a pesto of sorts (less the parmesan and didn’t blend ‘til smooth) that also had some minced fresh jalapeno pepper in it… just enough to add a bit of heat and flavor. If I recall, also in the pesto was a bit of parsley. Nonetheless, simply drizzled over the tuna after searing. Was very good. I could see this working with a baked halibut… perhaps one with some halved grape tomatoes and capers.

Not sure why I served it with Avocado like I did. That, and made the plate look pretty shitty w/the pesto.