Hello and welcome back! I’m so glad you’re here!
Today, I’m continuing my ode to my local farmer’s market with a farmer’s market haul challenge.
But first–I’m going to share some interesting information about halibut. That’s right–halibut!
On Monday, I featured seared salmon with soba noodles and stir-fried, market-fresh veggies. Today, as promised, I am featuring seared halibut–and full disclosure: Although I used my tried and true recipe for searing fish, this time, my halibut came out a little dry. Here’s what I think happened:
The fish guy at my local market was featuring “local” halibut this week and I got pretty excited. Anything I can get from local sources–be it from local farmers, ranchers or fisherfolk–is fresher, nine-times-out-of-ten tastier and always better for our environment because it doesn’t have to be shipped very far.
When I took the halibut out of the butcher paper, it looked great and had no smell–a VERY good sign for any seafood–so I knew it was very fresh. It was, however, quite delicate-looking–almost fragile–which was different from the last halibut I got from my fish guy. I don’t get halibut very often because of the price, so I don’t know if I’ve ever worked with local halibut. I cooked it up using my go-to seared halibut recipe.
It was nice and quite flavorful, but I have to say–it was a little on the dry side. Hmmmmm….
I did a little research to see if my “local” halibut would be something different from Pacific halibut, and viola–I got what I think is an explanation for my challenges: There are several different types of halibut.
The three that I found immediately after typing in “Pacific halibut” are: the Pacific halibut, the Atlantic halibut and–wait for it–the California halibut. The type of halibut my local fish guy had on special was the California halibut. I had no idea it even existed, or that it was different from the Pacific halibut! While California halibut–or “Calibut”–and Pacific halibut are both members of the flounder family, they are altogether different fish. However, it does seem that you can substitute one for the other in recipes pretty easily–with one exception, I think–and that is that the California halibut is leaner and appears to be a little more delicate and will cook a little faster. At least mine did.
California halibut is also known as the California flounder. They are much smaller than the Pacific halibut, having 77 dorsal rays instead of 80 and are a more rounded shape, where the Pacific halibut are more diamond-shaped.
So–moral of this story is to read the signs at your fish market carefully and never assume! The next time I’m at my fish market, I will get more California halibut if I can; I’ll brine it and sear it at a higher heat for a little shorter time, which hopefully will result in a fish that’s a little less dry. I’ll post when I have the opportunity to work with Calibut again and let you know my results!
Alongside the Calibut, I served some of my roasted potatoes (using the Yukon golds):
I also served this terrific salad, using a fair number of things from my farmer’s market haul, including arugula, beets (I roasted them earlier in the week), tomatoes, shallots, yellow bell pepper and some feta cheese I found in the fridge. I dressed it very simply with some of the vinaigrette I made earlier in the week. Mr. Stone Soup declared it SUPER YUMMY!
So, if you’re keeping score, at this point, I’ve used up my halibut and my salmon. I’ve still got shrimp, steaks and a chicken on deck.
Of the produce I bought, I’ve got the following left:
2 artichokes, 2 bundles of asparagus, 1 bundle of beets, about a 1/2 pound of sugar snap peas, cucumbers, 1/2 bag of arugula, romaine and butter lettuce, 2 zucchinis, a red bell pepper, 2 russet potatoes, spinach, about a pound of fava beans, 2 fennel bulbs, green garlic, thyme, rosemary, 1 celery root, 2 bundles of carrots, 1 shallot, mint, onions, a couple of Early Girl tomatoes and strawberries.
So the race is on–can I use up what I bought at the market by the end of the week? Stay tuned!
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
