Sunday, August 03, 2008
Food, Recipes

Fresh catch

Alaskan halibut at Room at Twelve

Photo by Our Labor of Love

By Nick Oltarsh

Alaskan halibut is sought after for its beautiful white meat, which has a distinctly sweet flavor. This fish, like a great deal of seafood, tastes great when it’s steamed. But like most ingredients, dishes and genres of food, halibut tastes best when it’s caught and served at the peak of freshness. Halibut migrate between deeper and shallower waters. During the early summer, they head back in to do some near-shore feeding, so we’re coming up on a good time of the year for this particular fish. Even with its popularity, Alaskan halibut is still considered a sustainable seafood by the National Marine Fisheries Service. This means Alaskan halibut makes for a better, more environmentally conscious choice for sweet and flaky fish meat than something like Chilean sea bass.    While Alaskan halibut is obviously crucial to this dish, and I’ve named it as the key ingredient, the heirloom tomato is arguably as important to the overall success of this recipe as the fish itself. Choosing a local heirloom tomato helps ensure the freshest, most flavorful vegetable possible. The olive tapenade emulsion is relatively simple to make—just blend the ingredients—but the olive mixture works hard in this dish. This olive tapenade emulsion intensifies an otherwise light fish and adds a new and more complex layer of taste to a pretty straightforward dish. In the puréed state of the tapenade, the olive taste stands out without overpowering the fish, and the emulsion creates a creative liquid-within-a-liquid texture that really adds extra uniqueness to an already interesting meal. Here you have an entire wholesome meal from fish to accompanying sauce. This Alaskan Halibut dish is seasonal, healthy, scrumptious and impressive. Even with those attributes, Alaskan halibut is not a recipe that is too complicated for chefs of all levels to try. SP
Nick Oltarsh is the executive chef at Room at Twelve Centennial Park. 400 W. Peachtree St. 404-418-1250. www.roomattwelve.com.

Steamed Alaskan halibut with olive tapenade (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 4 6-ounce halibut filets, bones and skin removed
• 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 4 teaspoons fresh chopped mixed herbs (parsley, chives, chervil)
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 3 small ripe heirloom tomatoes, assorted colors, washed and cored
• 1 bunch wild arugula, washed and dried
• ½ cup olive tapenade emulsion
• Extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

Set up a large hotel pan with water to steam the fish. Set a perforated insert in the pan with a lid. Smear the fish with the room temperature butter. Sprinkle herbs and sliced shallots on top of the fish. Place the fish in the steamer, and cook until almost cooked through (6-8 minutes). Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes, and spread out on four plates. Put the cooked fish on top of the tomatoes. Drizzle the olive tapenade emulsion on the plates. Put a small pile of arugula on each plate
Drizzle each plate with extra virgin olive oil.

Tapenade emulsion (makes 2 quarts)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup kalamata olives, no pits
• ¼ cup capers, drained of liquid
• 2 anchovy filets in oil
• ¾ cup roasted garlic, drained of all oil
• Blend oil to emulsify
• 3 cups mayonnaise
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¾ cup water
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Instructions:

To cook the garlic, simmer garlic covered with oil until tender over low heat. Blend the olives, capers, anchovies and roasted garlic in a food processor. Pour in blended oil until the mixture is a smooth paste. Add the remaining ingredients, and blend until creamy and smooth looking.