Surf and Turf on the Deck

Halibut is one of my absolute favorite fish, but I don’t get to eat it nearly as often as I would like because it is so expensive.   Halibut is a cold water fish that is a flatfish like flounder, only considerably larger.  Halibut and flounder can be interchanged in recipes because they are so similar in flavor and texture.  Halibut can be found in the Atlantic and all up and down the western coastline, but some of the best halibut comes from the cold Alaskan or Canadian waters.  It is a white steak-like fish that is very lean, but because it is so lean, it can become very dry if overcooked.  The larger halibuts, that can weigh up to about 200 pounds, are becoming harder and harder to find, which makes it very expensive.  Unfortunately, a lot of the waters are becoming fished out due to over fishing.  So when it goes on sale, I make sure I get some, even if only a little bit at a time.  Tonight we only had a small piece; not nearly enough for both my husband and I to have for dinner, so we added a little left over London Broil, and had a delicious surf and turf dinner on the deck.  I marinated the halibut with some lemon pepper, regular pepper and olive oil, then we grilled it up and topped it with some pesto.  I served it with green beans almondine and lentils with carrots, red onions, garlic and parsley.  We had a very nice, relaxing dinner over-looking our ponds from our beloved deck.  Our wine choice this evening was actually my husband’s choice and I really didn’t care for it too much.  It was a sparkling Sangria.  Normally I love Sangria, but I do not care for sweet wines at all, and this was just a bit too sweet for my taste, plus we needed a white wine to go with the fish, but as luck would have it, I did not have any cold.  Oh well.  It can’t always be perfect.   However, dinner was delicious.

Preparing the lentils.

Cooking the carrots, garlic, onions and parsley to add to the cooked lentils.

Green Beans Almondine

Green Beans Almondine

green beans

toasted almonds

1 tsp lemon juice

1-2 TBSP butter

salt & pepper to taste

 

Toast almond slivers until lightly golden.  You can toast them in the oven or just in a pan right on the stove (I prefer the pan on the stove).  They do not need any butter or oil, because of the oil from the nuts themselves.  They only take a couple of minutes to cook up, so watch them carefully.

Remove the stems and the ends from your your green beans.  Place them in boiling hot water for about 6-8 minutes or until cooked, then remove from the water.

Get your skillet very hot then add your lemon juice.  Let it reduce down for a few seconds then add the butter and all the rest of the ingredients, including your cooked beans.  Mix well and saute for about 3-5 minutes and serve.