Irish Dinner

Halibut with Tomato-Basil Sauce

Sauce
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup whipping cream

Halibut
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 ounces mushrooms, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 medium zucchini, trimmed, cut into matchstick-size strips
1 medium tomato chopped
handful of fresh baby spinach

4 8-ounces halibut fillets (about 1 inch thick)

1/2 cup (2 sticks) chilled butter, cut into pieces
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Basil
For Sauce:
Combine shallots, garlic and vinegar in heavy small saucepan. Boil until most of liquid evaporates, about 4 minutes. Add wine; boil until most of liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Whisk in cream. Set sauce aside.

For Halibut:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and crushed red pepper. Cook until mushrooms are deep golden brown, stirring frequently, about 12 minutes. Add zucchini and saute 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.Add the tomato and Spinach and remove from heat.

Meanwhile, lightly oil baking sheet. Place halibut on sheet and brush with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Bake until fish is opaque in center, about 10 minutes.

Bring sauce to simmer. Reduce heat; add butter and whisk just until melted. Remove from heat. Mix in tomatoes and sorrel. Season with salt and pepper.


Due to the price of Halibut, I used Tilapia, and it turned out great.
I seasoned the fish with Old Bay before baking, and topped with slice lemons after baking.

Remember, we have to reheat everything hours later at work. This recipe worked well, even reheated.

I thought the sauce was a bit thin, everyone loved the taste. And sitting here typing, I realized I used 1/2 the butter called for. This is because I doubled the sauce recipe as recommended by everyone on the original web site.

So you may ask what makes this IRISH,
well, it is adapted from a recipe initially published in Bon Apetit in March 1996
From a Restaurant: Island Cottage; Hare Island, Ireland.

It is suggested that you Spoon Garlic Mashed Potatoes onto center of 4 plates. Place halibut atop potatoes. Arrange mushroom mixture around potatoes. Spoon sauce over fish and serve.

So,
Jen brought Mashed Potatoes
Bill made Irish Pub Salad
and Carly brought Festive Irish Cupcakes.




HAPPY ST PADDY'S DAY... May the Luck of the IRISH be with ya'