So. Life.

Anyway, I finally have halibut in my freezer. There was a several-year gap without halibut due to fishing season, time, small children, and other priorities. We used to have halibut all the time but since moving to Sitka, it’s a bit tough to get. But thanks to the good will of a friend, there is a halibut in my freezer again.

However, halibut is very much boneless skinless chicken breast. I do not dream of a simple poached chicken breast any more than I dream of gently poached halibut with a sissy sauce of herbs and white wine. There is a place for all of that, and that place is where people pay upwards of $26/lb for halibut.

I am also a Working Mom so I like dishes in 9×13 pans and leftovers.

So I ended up here, with a halibut chile verde over polenta. The chile verde takes some notes from the rajas recipe in The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook Volume II (SF Chron) (Bauer and Irwin, 2001) and the pork chile verde in the Bon Appetit cookbook (Fairchild, 2006). The polenta is also from the SF Chron cookbook, but lightened because I at least pretend to support cardiac health in my house.

Halibut Chile Verde over Polenta

Halibut Chile Verde

6 poblano peppers (Or pasillas, or anaheim peppers. I live in southeast Alaska so I take what I can get)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1-2 T oil (I use olive oil but vegetable or whatever is fine)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno or serranos or whatever, seeded and minced. (I don’t do this because I have toddlers and they can’t handle spice yet. but you do you!)
couple of tablespoons of white wine (optional)
1 cup-ish chicken broth
1 pound halibut, cut into 1-inch chunks
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (or more if you like) grated queso fresco

roast poblanos over an open flame or broil them in the oven. Place them in a bag to steam, remove skin and seeds then slice into long strips. Toast cumin until it smells good then grind it up (feel free to substitute ground cumin here but then hang your head in shame). heat oil over med-high heat in a large dutch oven. Add onions and allow them to develop a fond on the bottom of the dutch oven. Add the garlic, toasted cumin, roasted peppers, and any minced jalapeno/serrano you have. Let that get nice and toasty. Deglaze with white wine and stir up any brown stuff on the bottom of the pan. Add chicken broth (deglaze with that if you are skipping wine) and stir. Lower heat to med-low. Add halibut and stir gently. Fish releases a lot of water but if your mixture looks too dry add a bit more broth until it looks like a nice, thick stew. remove from heat after all of the fish looks opaque. You don’t want to over cook here because you are going to bake this whole thing in the oven.

Polenta (modified from the SF Chron cookbook Volume 2):

1 cup water
1/2 cup milk (or heavy cream if you want to indulge)
1 tsp salt
1 cup polenta
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup grated Queso Fresco (or Mozzarella if you life in a queso fresco-free place)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine water, milk, and salt in a sauce pan, place over high heat and bring almost to boil. In a separate bowl, combine polenta, oregano, and cheese and stir to combine. Stir into hot liquid, making sure there are no lumps and everything is incorporated. Pour into 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 10 minutes, stir then bake for 25 minutes longer. My oven runs hot so I usually let it go for about 15 minutes or more–the top should be golden and polenta should be springy.

Lower heat in oven to 325. Ladle the chile verde over the polenta, dot with sour cream and sprinkle cheese over the whole thing. Bake in the oven until everything is heated through and the cheese is melted and bubbling (20-35 minutes depending on your oven).

This whole thing can be made in advance and cooked the next day. It also reheats reasonably well for a fish recipe.

This has become one of my favorite things to do with halibut. It is way WAY easier than enchiladas and my kids mostly eat it.

No, there isn’t a picture because I do not have that kind of time and this photographs about as well as a cheese-covered dish in a 9×13 pyrex can. It is tasty, I promise.

References

Bauer, Michael and Fran Irwin. 2001. The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook Volume II. Chronicle Books.

Fairchild, Barbara. 2006. The Bon Appetit cookbook. John Wiley & Sons.

Of course there are references. I am A Scientist.