Another reason butter is the new black!
The classic French dish is raie au beurre noir (Skate with black butter) but Skates are over fished so we used sustainably farmed Atlantic Halibut. Combining blackened Sea Salt butter, capers, parsley and balsamic vinegar with perfectly poached Halibut will surely improve your IQ, increase your wealth, make you new friends, etc.
The tricky bit for this recipe is the blackening of the butter so pay special attention to that step.
On to some cooking:
1 pound of fresh Halibut, filleted, skin on (cut into two 8 oz pieces)
6 small yellow creamer potatoes, peeled
6 or 7 small carrots, peeled
4 ounces of Sea Salt Banner Butter, cut into 5 equal pieces
Herbs for the poaching water: 1 sprig of thyme, 3 bay leafs, 3 sprigs of flat leaf parsley (a handful)
2 1/2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of capers
1 tablespoon of sea salt
2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon
Serves 2+ adults (we actually served four, which included our two children)
Poach the fish and veggies
In a large pot, place the halibut, thyme (the whole sprig), bay leafs, flat leaf parsley (un-chopped, for now), carrots, and potatoes, and cover with cold water.
Add half of the salt and 1 tablespoon of the vinegar to the water, put the lid on slightly ajar and bring the pot to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce to a simmer for 10 to 12 minutes.
Start the black butter
About five minutes into simmering the fish and veggies, heat a large saute pan until hot.
Place one or two pieces of cold butter and cook over medium/low heat. As each piece of the butter melts and foams, add another piece until the entire pan of butter is melted and foaming. Stir every 10 seconds or so, keeping the butter moving. Do this until all 5 pieces of the butter have melted.
When the butter stops foaming, immediately look for the milk solids at the bottom of the pan to start to brown (it should stay dark brown — not black — despite the name).
Finish the black butter
Once the milk solids have started to brown, quickly go back to your pot of fish and veggies, and remove the parsley from the simmering water with some tongs, drain and chop on a cutting board.
Add the parsley to your butter.
Then add the capers and the rest of the balsamic vinegar to the butter pan. Stir for a minute or so, and salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat for the butter saute and set aside.
Put it all together
At this point, your halibut, potatoes, and carrots should be ready to eat. So plate them up nicely and liberally pour the black butter saute over the fish and veggies.
Garnish with some lemon slices and fresh parsley.
Hope you REALLY enjoy this one…we did!