Aishling Moore: The meatiest of fish deserves a robust sauce

Halibut with mushroom sauce by Aishling Moore. Picture Chani Anderson.

This weekend’s recipe of halibut with a creamy mushroom sauce is a real treat.

Being one of the most expensive species in the sea, halibut is deserving of an accompaniment which is as robust and luxurious, so I’ve opted for a peppery umami-rich mushroom sauce to go with.

Halibut is the meatiest and largest fish that I get to work with, so it’s a real joy when available. In the past few months I’ve filleted, skinned, cooked and served kilos of the stuff. The biggest single fish being a whopping 16kg.

The skin is tough, it’s best to remove before cooking. You can ask your fishmonger to do this for you, or have a go at it yourself, just use a super sharp flexible filleting knife.

Cooking a piece of prime seafood like this is a cinch once you follow a few crucial steps, all of which are included below in the method of the recipe.

This sauce works with just about any species in the sea, great with pan-fried hake or pollock, beautiful with a piece of steamed brill or turbot; just use whatever’s fresh and available. You can swap the fish stock for chicken or vegetable stock, use what you have on hand.

The cooking of the mushrooms is key to getting this sauce right. Use a wide based pot or pan to brown the mushrooms, don’t overcrowd the pan you want the mushrooms to colour and caramelise, not boil.

I’ve chosen sliced chestnut mushrooms for this recipe but you could use button, shiitake or even dried mushrooms, first rehydrated in boiling water and you could use that mushroom-flavoured water in place of the fish stock in the recipe too.

The most delicious briny green peppercorns finish this creamy mushroom sauce, a fantastic combination.

Halibut with a creamy mushroom sauce

recipe by:Aishling Moore

Being one of the most expensive species in the sea, halibut is deserving of an accompaniment which is as robust and luxurious, so I’ve opted for a peppery umami-rich mushroom sauce to go with. Halibut is the meatiest and largest fish that I get to work wi

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 35 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 4 x 130g fillets of halibut

• 3.5 tbsp vegetable oil

• Fine sea salt

• 2tb melted butter

• For the sauce

• 3 tbsp rapeseed oil

• 250g chestnut mushrooms sliced

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 sprigs of thyme leaves

• 150ml white wine

• 100ml fish stock

• 150g crème fraiche

• 1 tbsp green peppercorns

• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. To make the sauce, place a wide-based pan on medium-high heat.

2. Warm the rapeseed oil before adding the mushrooms, season generously and cook until caramelised. Stirring regularly to ensure even browning.

3. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the minced garlic and thyme. Cook for 2 minutes until the garlic is golden.

4. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the white wine to deglaze the pan, reduce by half.

5. Add the stock, bring to the boil and reduce by half.

6. Add the crème fraiche and warm through.

7. Finish the sauce with the green peppercorns and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

8. Keep warm whilst cooking the halibut.

9. Remove the halibut from the fridge 15 minutes before you intend to cook it. Pat dry any excess moisture and season with fine sea salt.

10. Preheat your frying pan on a medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to sear the fish in batches.

11. Add the vegetable oil to the pan and warm before placing the halibut in the pan, laying the fillets down and away from you, to avoid oil splatters.

12. Once in the pan. do not disturb the fillet or move the pan. Allow the crust of caramelisation to develop evenly, approximately 2-3 minutes, until the fish is cooked 50 per cent of the way.

13. Using a fish slice, confidently lift the fillet from the pan and place on a lightly oiled tray. Brush each fillet with melted butter.

14. Place the par-cooked fillet in a 200°C preheated oven to finish cooking, this time will vary depending on the thickness of each fillet.

Fish tales

· Carbon steel frying pans are my preference for cooking fish. They are excellent conductors of heat and require very little upkeep.

· Preheating your frying pan is the most crucial step in pan-frying a piece of fish. The goal is to achieve an even temperature across the full surface area of the pan. Cold pockets will cause your fish to stick.

· No matter what piece of fish you are cooking, when removing from a pan, always lift from the tail end of the fish.

· Make sure you’re using a pan that’s large enough for the number of portions you’re cooking. Avoid overcrowding the pan – each addition to a cooking surface reduces the temperature of the pan.

· If cooking the fish in batches, be sure to clean, dry and preheat the pan again before searing more portions.