Ticking Our a Halibut

One of the most delectable and versatile fish to cook is halibut because of its firm, mild and white flesh. To make a simple yet delightful gourmet meal, halibut is cooked in the crock pot with a luscious and creamy white wine sauce in this recipe. Halibut is a large flat fish. Its range in sizes depends on its age and kind. The California halibut is relatively smaller. While the Pacific halibut is gigantic in size and can grow up to more than 500 pounds. Most of the time, halibut is sold as steaks in markets and groceries and don't forget about the perfect paired wine for this recipe.

Halibut is very healthy. It can be included in the weekly diet recipes because it is sustainable, especially the Pacific halibut. Most of the halibuts sold in the market are Pacific, specifically Alaskan fishery. California halibut is available in California and usually caught between 4 and 12 pounds. But these kinds of halibut are sold as fillet since they are relatively small in size. Both kinds of halibuts are similar in taste and texture. Halibut can be sold fresh or frozen. This kind of fish stores very well as long as it is vacuum-sealed. It can retain its quality for a year.

In these kind of diet recipes, the halibut is cooked in the slow cooker or crock pot. It contains very little oil because it is a lean fish. It can dry out pretty fast when cooked improperly or too long. While it is cooking, the white wine sauce is added to the dry halibut steaks. It also provides moisture and flavor, allowing the meat to absorb the flavors well. There is no need to marinade the halibut like many recipes require. In the process of slow cooking, the flavors the fish will penetrate deep into the flesh and make a really tasty dish. Also enhancing the moisture and flavor of the fish is the lemon added at the end.

Ingredients

250gms packages halibut - steaks, thawed

2 tablespoons flour, all-purpose

1 tablespoon white sugar

Salt to taste

100gms butter

1/3 cup white wine - dry

2/3 cup milk - or half and half

1 lemon cut into 4

1. Dry the halibut steaks. Then put them in Crock-Pot.

2. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a separate bowl. Set aside.

3. Melt butter in a pan and add the above flour mixture. Keep stirring. When it combines well, add wine and milk. Cook over medium heat until thick consistency is reached while stirring constantly.

4. Let it boil for a couple of minutes. Pour this sauce on the dry halibut steaks. Cover. Cook on High flame for about 20 minutes.

5. Once cooked transfer halibut to serving plate. Garnish with chopped lemons.

Pumpkin Seafood Crossover

Pumpkins during Halloween need not be relegated to the carved variety that you adorn your front yard with. It can turn into the creamiest pumpkin cooking recipes with clams served on the shell. It’s a truly fabulous winter dish to warm the stomach and the soul. Just like choosing the perfect pumpkins to carve, you must also choose the best pumpkins to cook. Pick the one that is free of blemishes and gouges because you will be using the rest of the pumpkin as the serving vessel for the soup. Likewise, it will look attractive and unique as a centerpiece in the dinner table.

The dish is served at Le Trianon Palace’s Les Trois Marches restaurant. In this demonstration by Chef Gerard Vie, he really chose the pumpkin that could make for a good-looking bowl. It should also be prepared and cut carefully so it remains steady when placed on the table. The key is to select squat-shaped pumpkins instead of upright for better balance. Some examples of pumpkin varieties with bowl-like shapes are Cinderella or Rouge Vif d’Etampes pumpkins. Since the inside will be used, the chef removes it from the beautiful pumpkin shell using a sharp knife to cut off the top and scoop out the stringy portion as well as the seeds. Be careful when you cut the lid because it will still be used later on to cover the creamy soup and keep it warm. Do not discard it. Make a clean incision angling the blade a bit when you cut the lid so that it neatly rests on top of the pumpkin and looks attractive, whether you put it on or take it off. The pumpkin is then baked in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake the pumpkin only just as it begins to soften. Be careful not to overcook the pumpkin or the shell won’t hold and support the weight of the pumpkin puree. You only want to soften the flesh so that you can easily scrape it out from the shell. Remove from the oven and cool the pumpkin before you scoop out the flesh. The shell should be intact and just thick enough to support the thick puree that will be ladled on it. While you are baking the pumpkin, steam the clams until the shells open up. Serve this darling of a soup with a bottle of Cote du Rhone ou Anjou blanc.

Ingredients

1 small pumpkin weighing about 3 lbs.

2 pints clams

1 cup cream

0.44 lbs. butter

1 leek white

1 onion

salt, pepper

1. Cut off the top of the pumpkin. Remove seeds and stringy matter. Place in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in a 375 degree oven until the flesh is tender and easy to scrape. Use a spoon to remove the flesh inside. Be careful not to scrape too much from the bottom of the pumpkin or it might break.

2. Steam clams in salted water until the shells open up.

3. Sautee the pumpkin flesh with leeks, onions, 3.5 oz. butter, 1/2 gallon water (or better: bouillon), salt, and pepper. Stir well with an electric mixer to puree. Add cream and butter. Continue mixing until smooth and creamy.

4. Open the cooked clams. Recover the meat from each shell. Season. Add the clams to the pumpkin cream. Do not let the mixture boil any more.

5. Carefully pour the pumpkin cream into the prepared pumpkin shell. Place the lid back on the pumpkin to cover it and keep it warm. Serve.

Prawn Stars Drunked

Fried prawns are served with glazed apples and seasoned with sumptuous beer sauce in this healthy food recipe by Chef Luc Huvsentruvt. This makes a delicious bar or party food and is best enjoyed with ice-cold beer. For the best flavor, use pale ale Belgian beer, which has a good balance of richness and bitterness with some fruity notes. Some of the best pale ales in the world are Belgian beers.

Alternatively, you can also use Belgian white beer instead of pale ale to make the beer sauce. Also known as “witbier,” “blanche de burges,” or “bière blanche” in French, white beer is a crisp and light beer with a subtle sweetness. Refreshing and creamy without being heavy, it also has hints of fruitiness and appears cloudy. These characteristics make it ideal for making beer sauce and for pairing with seafood.

The three main ingredients of beer include hops, malt and yeast. The dominant bitter flavor of beer comes from hops while the subtle sweetness comes from the malt. The yeast gives the beer a flavor similar to bread and when used for culinary purposes, all these flavors and characteristics are considered. The mouthwatering beer sauce is made with pale ale, shallots, chives, tomatoes, fresh butter, salt and pepper. The tomatoes and herbs balance the beer’s bitterness and acidity and make an exquisite tasting sauce. The sauce is heated until it thickens and is seasoned with salt and pepper. To thicken the sauce and to obtain a finer consistency, use whisk to mix the sauce very well. Be careful not to boil the beer for too long or its essence and flavor will be lost.

The pleasantly bitter, sour and subtly sweet beer sauce is perfectly complemented by the glazed apples in this recipe. The fried succulent shrimps are made more pleasurable with the harmony of flavors from the sauce and the glazed apples.

Ingredients

24 prawns

1 apple

3 spoons olive oil

3 teaspoons diced tomato

1 spoon minced chives

8 ½ tablespoons butter

1/2 bottle beer (Blanche de Bruges)

salt, pepper

1. Separate the head, take out the shell and devein the raw prawns. Leave the tails on for presentation. Steam the prawn head and set aside for decoration.

2. Slice apples thinly and gently warm in butter. Sprinkle some sugar and cook in a low combustion stove to glaze.

3. Heat olive oil until it smokes. Fry the prawns in the hot olive oil. The prawns should be cooked quickly and stay juicy inside. If you overcook them, they will dry out. Once they are lightly browned, take the prawns off the heat and place them on paper napkins to absorb oil.

4. Heat shallots in pan. Pour some beer, chives, and tomatoes. Finish the sauce with some fresh butter. Season with salt and pepper. Mix with a whisk to thicken.

5. Arrange glazed apples on side of the plate and the cooked prawn head beside it for decoration. Place the prawns on the plate, making a line parallel to the glazed apple slices. Pour some beer sauce over the prawns and serve.