Pan-Roasted Halibut with Toasted Bread-Crumb Salad and Green Lentils

Photo Courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

Boy did I earn my chef's hat with this recipe! It took a ton of preparation but the end result was beautiful comfort food. I mentioned in a prior entry that Brad and I met Tom Douglas at a Northwest Fisheries cooking event. I purchased a copy of his cookbook while we were at the event with intention to cook several of his seafood dishes. This was my first Tom Douglas recipe and although I had high expectations, it exceeded them by leaps and bounds. Let me first share the recipe and I will then pen my thoughts. This is an involved recipe so stick with me.

For Green Lentils:

1 cup dried French green lentils, picked over and rinsed

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup finely diced carrots

1/4 cup finely diced onion

1/4 cup finely diced celery

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tsp chopped fresh sage

1 tsp copped fresh rosemary

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

1 tsp chopped fresh oregano

3 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For toasted bread-crumb salad:

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 cup coarse bread crumbs (instructions follow)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1/4 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley

1 Tbsp chopped lemon zest

Lemon Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

To finish the dish:

Olive oil for pan-roasting

1 1/2 pounds halibut fillets, cut into 4 portions

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make dried bread crumbs:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Use European-style white bread and don't remove crusts. Slice bread 1/2 inch thick and place in single layer on ungreased baking sheet. Put baking sheet in oven and bake until bread feels dried in center, about 40 minutes. Turn bread over from time to time to make sure it dries evenly. Allow to cool and place in food processor. Pulse to make coarse bread crumbs. Dried bread crumbs will keep for a few weeks in a jar.

Lemon Vinaigrette:

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp minced shallots

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In small bowl, combine lemon juice and shallots. Slowly whisk in oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. This can be made ahead and covered in refrigerator.

Now on to the recipe....... To prepare lentils, bring pot of salted water to boil. Add lentils, reduce heat to simmer and cook until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain and set aside. Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium-high heat, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add carrots, onion and celery and cook, stirring for another 2 minutes. Add lentils, chicken stock and chopped herbs. Bring to boil. Add butter, stirring until emulsified and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

To make bread-crumb salad, heat oil over medium-high heat in a saute pan, then add bread crumbs and pan fry until golden and crunchy, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool. In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, chopped parsley, parsley leaves and lemon zest. Reserve 1 Tbsp of lemon vinaigrette for drizzling over fish later and combine remaining vinaigrette with bread crumbs.

To pan-roast halibut, heat large saute pan over high heat with a few tablespoons of olive oil until almost smoking. Season fish with salt and pepper and sear until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and finish cooking, about 2 minutes.

Ladle lentils into 4 wide, shallow bowls. Place fish in center of each bowl, drizzle with vinaigrette and top with bread-crumb salad.

Okay, now I can catch my breath. I told you this recipe was involved. I really did earn my chef's hat, didn't I? Good thing the dish was true perfection. The halibut was seasoned simply and cooked perfectly, the lentils were so good that I would make this part of the dish alone for dinner and the bread crumbs added the perfect amount of acidity and crunchiness. Olivia loved the halibut and Brad thought the whole dish was delicious. I was really proud of myself for executing the dish because it was one of the more complicated recipes I have prepared. Tom Douglas inscribed the front of my cookbook with "Kiersten, rock the kitchen!" and if I dare say so, that is just what I did. To top it off, isn't the final result gorgeous? Thank you for the great recipe, Tom!