Monday, August 16, 2010

Seared Halibut with Hot Bacon and Roma Bean Relish – 'Cause That's What I Had

When I bought the halibut you see in this video, the last thing I wanted to use with it was bacon. If I'm not mistaken, every other halibut recipe video I've posted has bacon, and I was determined to do something different.

But there I was, staring into the refrigerator, daylight fading, needing to get the fresh fish cooked, filmed, and on a plate while I still had time. Having recently traveled to New Orleans, the fridge was a barren wasteland, inhabited by little more than a few assorted condiments – oh, and two slices of bacon.
While halibut simply seared in bacon would have certainly made for a decent dinner, the idea wasn't exactly inspiring my inner Tarantino. I really wanted to do something a bit more creative than that.Then I remembered I hadn't checked my Roma bean vines since returning to San Francisco. I was happy that despite our city's typical gray-icy summer, I was able to harvest a small handful. That's when things got crazy.

Instead cooking the fish in the bacon and serving the beans as a side dish, I decided to try a sort of hot vegetable relish. I figured by slicing the beans thin and cooking them raw in the hot bacon fat I could concentrate that great bittersweet flavor, and turn what was in danger of being a very mundane plate, into something new and exciting.

How exciting? Well, they're just beans, but I loved how this came out. A little lemon was used to make a sort of hot bacon dressing, and together with my gratuitous hot sauce design, the plate came together wonderfully.

Roma beans seem to be in season right now, but I think this would work nicely with regular string beans, or even sugar snap peas. If you want to make this "meat-free," just substitute some diced shiitake mushrooms for the bacon and proceed as shown. Either way, I hope you give this a try. Enjoy!

Note: This isn't a sponsored post, but I was sent a few knives to try by New West Knife Works, including the red-handled beauty in this seafood video. I love the look and feel, but will continue to use and evaluate them before making any kind of formal review. You can check out the New West Knife Works website if you'd like more info. Thanks!




Ingredients for 4 servings:
4 oz bacon, sliced in 1/4-inch pieces
8 oz Roma beans, or other fresh green beans, sliced into 1/8-inch pieces
4 (7-oz) halibut steaks
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Sriracha hot sauce, optional

View the complete recipe

19 comments:

wackyduck said...

You have very nice hands.

wackyduck said...

You have very nice hands.

Arina said...

how do you eat fish like this that has bones in it without having to 'fish' all the bones out of your mouth? I had this with salmon the other day and although it was cooked perfectly the bones really annoyed me :( any tips?

Chef John said...

You're talking about "pin bones" in salmon that should have been removed (ask the fish guy). These steaks just have a couple big bones in the center which are very easy to pull out or eat around.

Anonymous said...

Farmers' Mkt Sat I'm getting some halibut and doing it this way. It looks delish!

Unknown said...

Hi Chef,
I like your recipe videos very much. I like to cook and have tried many of your recipe and they are simple and delicious. :)
Chef, In San Francisco where do you buy your fish?
Thank you for your beautiful recipes and videos.

Chef John said...

I usually go to Mission Market

Unknown said...

Thank you, Chef. :)

Anonymous said...

looks delicious!

Jamie Lau said...

Hi Chef John, I used Turbot filet instead of Halibut, tasted pretty good as well. The lemony taste goes so well with Siracha.

Matt_W. said...

This looks absolutely delicious. I'm gonna try it as soon as I get my hands on some fresh fish.
ps. love your recipes, Chef John! Thanks!
pps. Just curious. What's the song you play as your intro/outro? sounds beautifully soothing.

Chef John said...

called "Buddy" from iMovie thanks!

Rita said...

i would've never thought of using beans as a sauce. but it looks like it, definitely, worked!

by the way, whatever happened to the cherry tomato beef brisket meat sauce video? or is that one of your teaser recipes.

Rita said...

by the way, let us know what you think of your new knife. i'm in the market for a new one, that's why.

Chef John said...

coming soon!

Gil said...

Dear Chef John,
Everything you make is great!
I am also really happy that you are a finalist for the foodnetwork!!
Even if you don't win (which I highly doubt) you'll still the best chef BY FAR! (and I think that all of your fans would agree with me)
Best of luck!

Anonymous said...

First, the Sri Racha "H" rocks. Second, I love your gratuitous use of bacon on your blog.

ohcynicalone said...

Oh man, I gotta make my way to Mission Market, as I have found hardly ANY decent halibut upon moving to the SF Bay Area (nearly 10 years ago).

But, do you really think the Halibut here is in any close consolation with the halibut one can find on the East Coast?

Chef John said...

not sure, never had any East coast Halibut.