Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Pan-seared Halibut with Sweet Corn Zabaglione

Now that Hell's Kitchen is over, Master Chef has taken over as my favorite cooking reality show. This dish was another challenge dish that I had to make myself, it looked so good. Cat Cora is the main creator of the dish, but here is my version, with my own preferences! I hope you like it!
*Try and use fresh, never frozen Halibut, if you can find it. The fish found in most grocery stores is previously frozen, although you would think it was fresh when laid out in the display case.

Serves 2.

Ingredients:
  • 2 Halibut Fillets, skinned (about 6 oz. each)
  • Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Olive oil, to taste
  • 2 ears of corn, shucked, kernels cut off
  • 1/3 Red Onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 c. Cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
  • 1 c. Baby Arugula, washed
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 c. Heavy Cream
  • 1 Egg Yolk
For the Halibut: Heat a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan until sizzling. Season the fish with salt and pepper on both sides, pressing the seasonings into the flesh. When the oil is hot, Lay the fillets presentation side down in the pan and sear for 2 minutes. Flip over. The fish should be golden on top. Sear on the other side for about 1 minute more and then turn of the heat, leaving the fish in the pan to continue cooking. Keep warm.

For the Salad: In a frying pan, saute 1/2 of the corn and the red onion in olive oil until soft, but not soggy. Place in a bowl and allow to cool. Add the cherry tomatoes and arugula and toss. Add olive oil, salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

For the Sweet Corn Zabaglione: In a large saucepan, saute the onion and remaining corn in a small amount of olive oil until tender. Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the heavy cream and let simmer for 5-6 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for at least 10 minutes. Place the corn/cream mixture in a blender. CAREFULLY puree until smooth. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk until broken up. Add a small amount of the strained sauce to the yolk, whisking well each time, until the yolk is warmed. Add the yolk to the sauce and whisk in well.
Cook the sauce in a double boiler until slightly thickened and hot. Season with salt to taste.

To serve: Pour about 1/2 c. of sauce onto the center of a plate. Place the halibut on top of the sauce, presentation side up. Top the fish with a portion of the salad. Eat Immediately!

6 comments:

  1. what about the truffled part? I know she shaved truffle on top, do you think a few drops of truffle oil at the end would work too?

    thanks for this recipe I have been searching everywhere for it!!

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  2. I used shaved black truffles on mine too, I just didn't add them to the recipe because they are hard to find and expensive. You could add a little bit of truffle oil to the top of the fish at the end of cooking, though. I'm sure that would be good!

    And you are welcome for the recipe! This isn't Cat Cora's actual recipe, just what I used and the measurments that worked for me.....

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  3. It is the closest I could find. I am sure it will be great. I am going back to the original with the fava beans though. I will let you know the results!

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  4. Let me know where you find fava beans! I could not find them for the life of me, so I just used canned lima beans. Didn't care for the lima beans so I simply left if out of the recipe entirely because I thought it was better with out.

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  5. I was hoping to find broad beans in season right now, but living in a small town I could not. I found frozen lima beans, which I thought were the same, I was incorrect. They were okay, having never tried the broad beans I don't know if they are similar. I should have raided my neighbors garden for them LOL. If I make it again I would use edamame instead. The dish turned out fabulous, except I have a ton of the Zabaglione left. I made 4 servings so I doubled your recipe, what I didn't understand is how you went from 2 cups of whipping cream, but then only 1/2 cup servings of the sauce? Overall though, amazing raves, but a lot of work.

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  6. This did make a lot of extra sauce. Since it only calls for one egg yolk you need 2 cups of cream to have it end up at the right thickness. You could cut the recipe in half, with only 1/2 egg yolk, but that would make it a lot more tricky.
    Yesterday I found fresh fava beans at whole foods. Only place I've seen them, though.
    Glad it turned out well!

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