A Gary Rhodes recipe
Here’s a treat of a fish dish – succulent halibut steaks cooked with red wine and caramelised button mushrooms and onions. Chasseur is a french classic, usually associated with chicken. It’s normally a white wine, gravy-based sauce with onions or shallots, mushrooms, tomato, tarragonn and parsley. Well, this dish is a variation of that – I use button onions and mushrooms with tomato and tarrago but no gravy or white wine. I use red wine, butter and halibut. This dish also suits roasted cod, brill or turbot.
Serves 4
Ingredients: 4 x 10oz (275g) halibut steaks on bone, skin left on; salt and pepper; 1 tblsp plain flour; 1 tblsp cooking oil; 2-3 oz (50-75g) butter; 16-20 small button onion; 16-20 small button mushrooms; 1/2 bottle of red wine; 2 plum tomatoes, peeled if preferred, deseeded and cut into small dice; 1 tsp freshly chopped tarragon
- Preheat the oven to 200-220oC/400-425oF/Gas Mark 6-7. Season the halibut steaks with salt and pepper and lightly sprinkle the plain flour on the skin side of the steaks only. Heat a frying pan and add the cooking oil and a small knob of the butter. Add the halibut skin side down to the pan and fry until the fish is a golden brown colour. Remove the fish and then transfer to a large ovenproof dish. Cook in the oven for approximately 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of the halibut steaks.
- Now peel the onions, then wash and dry the mushrooms. Melt another knob of butter in the frying pan and add the onions. Fry on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes, or until the onions are golden brown in colour. Add the mushrooms to the pan with the onions. Fry for a further 3-4 minutes, or until the mushrooms and onions are tender. Add the red wine to the pan, bring to the boil and heat until it’s reduced in quantity by approximately one third.
- Arrange the halibut steaks on warmed serving plates. Using a slotted spoon, remove the button onions and then the mushrooms from the wine sauce and place on top of the fish steaks. Keep the plates warm. Add the remaining butter to the wine sauce and whisk in. Add the diced tomatoes and the chopped tarragon and cook for just a few seconds.
- To serve, spoon the red wine sauce over the halibut. Mashed potato goes a treat with this dish.
timeonyourhands.org 