Our Favorite Halibut Recipe: Panko Crusted Halibut with Bleu Cheese

Posted on April 18, 2021 by Jack & Barbra Donachy

*Perfectly browned panko gives it crunch. The bleu cheese and bacon adds… bleu cheese and bacon.*

Although halibut can be caught any time of the year, I think of them as summertime fish. The images that come to mind are of calm seas and sunshine and Gillie drifting in a light breeze over a bottom of reasonable depth, something around 5 to 20 fathoms. We look for “chickens,” the young 20 to 40 pound flatties that eagerly hit jigs, aren’t too much trouble in the boat, and fillet into firm white pieces perfect for the kitchen. Fired, baked, broiled or served as sashimi or in a soup, halibut are as versatile as any fish that swims. The thick fillets are just right for stuffing with shrimp, crab or, in this case a classic accompaniment, bleu cheese. Halibut cooked just right flakes beautifully. To achieve those moist flakes, avoid overcooking it. The meat is very rich. Barbra and I typically share a six to eight ounce fillet.

This is our favorite halibut recipe. In the photo, it is served on sautéed parsnips and saffron rice, but this works well as a sandwich, too. You don’t have to marinate the fillet… but you’ll be happy you did.

Panko Crusted Halibut with Bleu Cheese (for a 6 to 8 ounce fillet)

Ingredients:

6 to 8 ounce halibut fillet, skin on, patted dry
1 heaping tablespoon all purpose flour
1 egg, beaten, with a dollop each of soy sauce and Cholula mixed in
panko in a shallow dish
equal portions extra virgin olive oil and butter (about ⅛ inch in frying pan)

For the marinade: In a dish just large enough to hold the fillet, or in a small sealable plastic bag, mix together…

½ tablespoon soy sauce
½ tablespoon Chulula
juice from ½ lime (about 1 tablespoon or more)
mesquite (for the smokiness) to taste
a chipotle-type dry seasoning to taste
½ tablespoon brown sugar
cold water (sufficient to completely cover fillet)

For the filling: Mix together while bacon is still warm…

1 strip thick-cut bacon, fried soft and cut into small pieces
crumbled bleu cheese
tarragon (just a hint)

Directions:

Use a very sharp knife to cut a pocket into the fillet, taking care not to cut all the way through the other side.
Marinate the fillet in the refrigerator for 20 minutes up to about 2 hours. Remove and pat dry with paper towels.
In a small frying pan, melt the butter into the olive oil over medium heat.
Fill the fillet pocket with bleu cheese mixture.
Spread the flour on a cutting board and roll the fillet so all sides are covered.
Dip the fillet in the egg mixture to evenly coat.
Roll the fillet in panko to thoroughly coat.
The cooking oil is ready when a panko crumb placed into it bubbles and sizzles. Place the fillet in the frying pan skin side up. Make sure the fillet is sizzling, but that the oil is not so hot that the panko burns. Cover, reduce the heat a little, and cook for three minutes. Covering the fillet at this point helps ensure that the fish is properly cooked through. You might want to take a quick peak a couple of minutes into the cooking to make sure the panko is browning up properly.
Remove lid and continue cooking for one minute. (Four minutes total per side).
Carefully turn over the fillet so that it is now skin side down, presentation side up. Do not cover. Cook for four minutes. Adjust temperature as necessary to ensure panko is browning, not burning. Periodically spoon some of the oil-butter mixture onto the top of the fillet. Don’t worry if some of the filling melts out; it’s an indication that the fillet is cooked through. During the final minute of cooking, you may want to use tongs to hold the fillet so that the edges are properly browned.
When serving, you can spoon a little of the oil-butter mixture onto the fillet and offer lemon wedges.

Each fillet serves one hearty appetite or can be cut into two portions. This dish pairs well with Chardonnay or a cold, crisp lager.

Breakfast Panna Cotta – Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary

Posted on April 10, 2021 by Jack & Barbra Donachy

A breakfast fit for a celebration – now where’s my champagne?

As it happens sometimes, we received a random box of ingredients, this time thanks to the Farmers to Families program. The box included a variety of items that someone defined as household staples. Included were roasted chicken quarters, hot dogs, potatoes, apples, milk, and yogurt. Jack quickly turned out a delicious soup with the chicken, potatoes, and other veggies we had in our fridge. My challenge was the yogurt. I usually make our own yogurt, so we already had more than enough for our regular menu.

Living in a small village, we often gift extra food amongst our neighbors. For example, if someone gets an extra order of canned pumpkin or tahini (real examples), we share. When that happens, the resulting cooking challenge always strikes me as our own episode of Chopped. We don’t like to let anything go to waste. So the puzzle of the yogurt needed to be attended to right away.

I had just finished re-reading The Tutka Bay Lodge Cookbook and was in the middle of another pastry chef cookbook when the box arrived. I already had Panna Cotta on the brain. I wondered if Panna Cotta could be made with yogurt instead of cream. Panna Cotta is a wonderful gelatinized dessert that can become a delicious canvas for a variety of fruit. The name is derived from Italian and means “cooked cream.” In my experiment, it would be cooked yogurt. So, yes, this is not a true Panna Cotta. My version has the same vanilla bean canvas and the same structure. That’s where the similarity ended.

I tested different dishes and glasses for serving the Panna Cotta including wine glasses and ramekins. I think they all worked beautifully. My breakfast Panna Cotta definitely tasted like a rich vanilla yogurt. But it made for a gorgeous and delicious breakfast presentation – layers of crunchy granola, chewy dried fruit, zippy tart berries, and a drizzle of last summer’s wineberry syrup. The same visual layers can be accomplished in any clear glass if ramekins are not available. With just a bit of chilling time and not too much effort, you too can turn ordinary into extraordinary.

Breakfast Panna Cotta

Ingredients

1 1/2 tsp powdered gelatin (1 package)
3 cups plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla paste
2/3 cup granulated sugar
granola
dried fruit
frozen or fresh berries
berry syrup

Directions

Place gelatin in a small bowl. Pour a couple of tablespoons of the milk into the gelatin and mix. Let set for about 5 minutes.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the remainder of the milk, yogurt, vanilla and sugar.
Place about 1/2 cup of the yogurt mixture into a small pot. Warm mixture while stirring constantly.
Add gelatin mixture to pot.
Whisk mixture until gelatin is dissolved. Let cool for 5 minutes.
Pour gelatin mixture back into the original yogurt mixture in the medium bowl. Mix thoroughly.
Divide the panna cotta into 6 ramekins or glasses.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight in the refrigerator.
To serve, layer on granola, dried fruit, berries and berry syrup of your choosing.
Alternatively, run a knife around the edge of the ramekin, dip the ramekin in hot water and unmold onto a serving plate prepared with a bottom layer of granola. Top panna cotta decoratively with remaining ingredients.

Dungeness Crab Cakes

Posted on April 10, 2021 by Jack & Barbra Donachy

*Sweet Dungeness Crab – all you’ll want is a spritz of lemon.*

For as long as I can remember I’ve ordered crab cakes in restaurants. They are, I think, the most difficult seafood fritter, patty or cake to get right. The best I’ve had were served at McCormick’s in Portland some years ago. They came with hollandaise sauce and I used to have them for breakfast with a cup of black coffee or a glass of Pinot Gris, after which I’d walk up the street to Powell’s to look at books or to write.

Thanks to the Dungeness in our freezer, I’ve been experimenting. Crab is difficult because it’s more important to get the seasonings right than with other seafood and then you’ve got to cook the cakes just so. If the cakes are very good, lemon is all you’ll want.

Dungeness Crab Cakes

Ingredients

½ pound cooked Dungeness or Blue Crab meat. If it seems too wet, it is. Squeeze the excess moisture out with paper towel or through a strainer. Take extra care to make sure there is no shell.
seasonings: Crab is very sweet. It needs something. I use a blend of dried powdered peppers such as Aleppo, Ancho, Cayenne, Chipotle. The idea is that you want to balance the sweetness of the crab with something that pulls your pallet in a different direction. This actually serves to underscore the sweetness of crab, its signature trait. In addition to the above types of spice, smoked paprika, nutmeg and tarragon can also be added. Dill or fennel? I wouldn’t. I seldom spice anything exactly the same twice. The key here is the spicy pepper.
soy sauce: as desired
1 or 2 shallots, diced fine, sautéed till soft in olive oil, removed from pan and set aside to cool
¼ cup red bell pepper, diced, sautéed in olive oil, removed from pan and set aside to cool
1 egg, beaten with a little soy sauce whisked in. Provided you don’t add too much spice to the cakes themselves, you can also add a couple shakes of Cholula here.
panko: approximately the same amount in volume as the crab meat. Start by mixing in about half the volume. That won’t feel like enough, so add more till it seems about right – not to wet, not too dry.
Olive oil and Butter

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together the crab, seasonings, shallots, bell peppers, soy sauce and egg. Hands work best for this. Then mix in the panko. Shape the cakes into patties. Keep them fairly small so that they are easy to turn and they stay together.
In a frying pan on medium heat, add enough olive oil and butter in equal parts to shallow-fry the cakes. When the oil is hot, set the timer for 4 minutes and add the cakes. Cover the pan and cook for 1 minute, then lower the temperature to a little below medium. It is important to check the cakes periodically to make sure the bottom side is browning the way you want.
At 4 minutes, gently turn the cakes over and continue cooking uncovered. Occasionally spoon some of the oil-butter mixture on top of the cakes.

These are the best crab cakes I’ve ever had. All I ever want with them is a spritz of lemon. When Barbra and I pick a whole crab and dip it in herbed lemon-butter, we almost always go for a buttery, oaked Chardonnay. But these cakes want something lighter and more fruit forward, so Pinot Gris or similar pairs well.