halibut cheeks

I scored some halibut cheeks at the farmers' market just now. Any suggestions? I mainly went to the fish booth looking for something that cooks quickly. It was 108 yesterday, probably won't get that high today, but still hit 100, so I didn't want to stand over the stove.
Leanne

[Jenise]

Cheeks are delightful. I usually dip them in a beer batter and pan fry them into fish and chips. Probably not what you want to be doing with temps soaring like that, though. Why not grill them?

I wonder if there's a light sauce that's not salsa, but not a fatty mayonnaise tartar sauce type thing...?

I wonder if there's a light sauce that's not salsa, but not a fatty mayonnaise tartar sauce type thing...?

Puree whatever vegetables and herbs you bought from the farmer's market, with plenty of citrus (I see you're in Sonoma, so great citrus shouldn't be a problem).

I would make halibut cheeks "picatta." Lemon, white wine, olive oil, a little butter, capers and parsley. Mmm. I'm getting a taste for that now!

They are so tender and yummy, that a brushing of evoo, salt and pepper, and grill quickly is all they need. Then squeeze fresh lemon juice over them. They get tough if you over cook.

Carrie's idea sounds perfect! And cook them like shrimp - that is, just barely.

John

[Jenise]

I had the most to-die-for halibut cheeks dish last night in Vancouver at a Vietnamese-Thai Asian restaurant: pan-fried without a batter (maybe dipped in cornstarch first), and served in a bowl with a bunch of pan-sauteed aromatic strips of ginger peel, hot yellow chiles, green onion and garlic, and all topped with a handful of deep fried basil leaves. On the dry side but massively flavored, and a great foil for the other dish we ordered, a juicy hangar steak salad wherein strips of rare seared beef were tossed with lime juice, nampla, tons of fresh mint and sliced red chiles.

I followed Rahsaan's advice since I did have lots of herbs growing in the garden, and citrus as well. The balance was a bit off, as is always a risk when i throw in what i have at hand instead of buying for a recipe, but it still worked out, and using what I have in the garden and CSA basket is a big priority.

I followed Rahsaan's advice since I did have lots of herbs growing in the garden, and citrus as well. The balance was a bit off, as is always a risk when i throw in what i have at hand instead of buying for a recipe, but it still worked out, and using what I have in the garden and CSA basket is a big priority.

Glad to hear it worked out in the end!

Do you want to tell us more about what you made?

I would make halibut cheeks "picatta." Lemon, white wine, olive oil, a little butter, capers and parsley. Mmm. I'm getting a taste for that now!

I was thinking meuniere, so we're pretty much on the same page.

Oh, go Spanish!!!!

One of the best single dishes I've ever had was in the Rioja Alavesa, where I had cochocas de merluza, silvery and silky soft medallions of halibut cheeks immerses in a puree of shimmering blended spinach and garlic and herbs. It was remarkable; so remarkable it is firmly embedded in my memory forever.

Today, Jean came back from a recently opened local fish store with a fresh, never-frozen halibut fillet. We ended up skinning it, dividing it into smaller portions and pan searing in olive oil, then serving in a light miso broth atop a pile of sweet corn. Very tasty indeed. Halibut cheeks might be too delicate for such treatment, but maybe not.

Mark Lipton

Speaking of fresh...there was a time when I was chef in San Francisco when I was able to get 40, 50, 60, 70 pound halibut on regular basis.
I would then fillet them and use them in various dishes. (These were from the north - CA halibut only ran 25 pounds or so). I wonder what the availability is now.