Halibut Fish Tacos: Baja-style vs. Grilled!

by Katie Harris

Halibut tacos for the win

The members of this cooking club utilized their culinary skills for some friendly competition! The name of the game: a taste test to decide the best type of fish taco made with halibut. The contestants were Baja-style vs. gas-grilled, and the two methods turned out to be delicious competitors! One spicy, beer battered, and deep fried to crispy perfection. The other subtly seasoned and cooked over high heat for clean flavor. Serve with chips and guacamole and a minty Mojito, you may want to host your own back yard challenge! Try these sites for recipes and decide the winner for yourself.

Baja-Style Fish Tacos Recipe | Gabriela Cámara | Food Network

Recipe: Authentic Baja Style Fish Tacos | Better Living (onbetterliving.com)

Grilled halibut soft tacos with lime-garlic vinaigrette Recipe - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

Grilled Halibut Tacos with Peach Salsa - Domesticate ME (domesticate-me.com)

Don’t feel confident cooking fish (or even choosing a fillet)? Here are some tips to change that

By Carrie Dennett - Special to The Seattle Times

On Nutrition

Fish and seafood are good for the heart and good for the brain — which is why it’s recommended that adults eat about 8 ounces of it per week, including some fish species higher in omega-3 fats, such as salmon — but most Americans don’t come close to meeting those guidelines. One reason is lack of confidence in cooking seafood. Since it remains difficult to rely on restaurants for our seafood-eating needs, isn’t it time to get comfortable with preparing it at home?

“There’s a lot of fear about cooking seafood. People are afraid they’re going to get it wrong or screw it up,” said Naomi Tomky, author of “The Pacific Northwest Seafood Cookbook.”

Many of these fears and pitfalls involve cooking time. Specifically, it’s common to overcook fish out of fear of undercooking it. “You are far more likely to get sick from an undercooked piece of chicken, but in the U.S. we really don’t have that level of comfort with fish that people might elsewhere,” Tomky said. “And if you overcook salmon, your kitchen will smell like salmon. It keeps people from falling in love with fish.”

I recently attended Tomky’s class on “Foolproof Salmon” for PCC Community Markets — via Zoom, naturally. More on the merits of online cooking classes in a moment, but first, let me rhapsodize about Tomky’s simple, can’t-mess-it-up method for cooking salmon. Namely, slow roasting. Rub a little olive oil and salt on a salmon fillet, place skin-side-down on a baking sheet, and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes at 225 degrees, or until the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees. It literally could not be easier.

Smart and sustainable seafood shopping

Of course, to cook fish you have to shop for it first — and many people don’t know where to start. Is fresh better than frozen? Is this fish more sustainable than that fish? “A lot of people are scared of frozen because they think it’s the opposite of fresh, but with fish, it’s not,” Tomky said. “What matters is the time between catch and freeze, not the amount of time since it was caught.”

David Sanz, a meat and seafood merchandiser for PCC, agrees. “Fresh is always what you should try to get, but frozen, when it’s handled right, can be just as good.”

Frozen salmon is rapidly chilled immediately after it leaves the water, often directly on the boat. This retains quality and flavor.

Tomky said one major benefit of frozen fish is that you can stock up on it so you always have it available. She points out that unlike chicken or meat, a piece of fish can be safely defrosted in an hour — great if you forgot to plan dinner in advance. She said she likes to keep an eye out at farmers markets for sales on frozen fillets. “Don’t feel like you have to buy a $50 per pound, fresh-off-the-boat king salmon.”

Another way to save money when buying fish is to reconsider portion sizes. Say, a 4-ounce fillet instead of a restaurant-sized 6-to-8-ounce cut. “We have it in our heads in the U.S. that bigger is better, but I would rather eat a better quality fish in a smaller quantity, more often,” Tomky said. “To me, it’s about flavor first.”

Tomky recommends salmon as an easier-to-cook fish for newbies, and in fact, Sanz said that about 30% of PCC’s seafood sales are salmon — all wild, mostly from Alaska. Before the pandemic, many people were spending half of their food budget on dining out, but now they are cooking in more — and market data shows that seafood is the No. 2 restaurant menu item that people are missing right now. “It’s been on us to keep high-quality, sustainable seafood in our markets,” Sanz said. “It really has been on the grocery stores to feed the public.”

Aimee Simpson, PCC’s director of product sustainability, said all of PCC’s fresh, wild-caught fish is sourced according to Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines, which prioritize well-managed fisheries and fishing practices that cause little harm to habitats or other wildlife.

PCC also has it’s own internal standards that raise the bar further.

For example, she said PCC doesn’t sell farmed fish raised in net pens because of the threat to wild fish populations, and they pay attention to issues beyond overfishing. “We only source wild-caught fish from the U.S., due to global issues with illegal fishing and treatment of workers,” she said. Alaska harvests 90-95% of all U.S. wild salmon, catching only as much fish as the environment can handle each season.

Learning to cook — virtually

Back to the topic of online classes. If you are used to taking cooking classes in person, you might wonder how they translate to Zoom. It’s different, for sure, but still a great experience. It’s fun to see instructors’ home kitchens, personalities do shine through the computer screen, and the type-in chat feature allows for interaction. When coronavirus hit the Seattle area hard in mid-March, PCC quickly canceled its in-person classes, reemerging at the end of April with its first online class.

“I’m amazed at how fast people pivoted,” said Sephi Coyle, senior culinary school program manager for PCC. “Out of the gate, they’ve been really popular. It’s been really fun and everyone’s in it together.” She said the pivot has helped PCC stay connected with its food community while providing paid work for its instructors. “We’re trying to offer the same breadth and depth as our usual offerings.”

Another upside is the convenience — no need to fight traffic. It’s a convenience that will likely continue once gathering in groups is no longer a safety challenge — Coyle said 90% of PCC cooking class attendees said they would still be interested in online classes after the pandemic. “Some people prefer a demonstration class and online is perfect for that.”

Carrie Dennett: CarrieOnNutrition@gmail.com; on Twitter: @CarrieDennett. Carrie Dennett, MPH, RDN, CD is a registered dietitian nutritionist at Nutrition By Carrie, and author of "Healthy For Your Life: A holistic approach to optimal wellness." Visit her at nutritionbycarrie.com.

For perfect fish, try your Dutch oven

By America's Test Kitchen

Cooking fish at a low temperature in a covered pot is a nearly foolproof way to achieve perfectly cooked fish, since the heavy Dutch oven holds in moisture and allows the fish to cook through gently and evenly.

This method is also a wonderful way to concentrate flavor, meaning that a minimum of ingredients can make a big impact.

We started by browning sliced garlic in oil, which mellowed its flavor and infused the dish with warm aromatic notes. Cherry tomatoes, which are of reliable quality year-round, became soft and sweet with the gentle cooking. Capers provided briny bites, and thyme gave the dish an herbal base note.

Browning the halibut was unnecessary; it didn’t contribute much to the flavor, and the fish’s texture was better without it. While the halibut rested, we finished the sauce by cooking off some of the excess liquid on the stovetop.

Sea bass and swordfish steaks are good substitutes for the halibut.

HALIBUT WITH ROASTED GARLIC AND CHERRY TOMATOES

Start to finish: 1 hour

Servings: 4

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper

12 ounces cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 tablespoon capers, rinsed

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried

2 skin-on full halibut steaks, about 11/4 inches thick and 10-12 inches long, trimmed

Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position, and heat the oven to 250 degrees.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat until shimmering. Add the garlic, pepper flakes and a pinch of salt, and cook until garlic is light golden, 2-4 minutes. Off heat, stir in the tomatoes, capers and thyme.

Season the steaks with salt and pepper, and lay on top of tomatoes. Cover, transfer pot to oven, and cook until halibut flakes apart when gently prodded with paring knife and registers 140 degrees, 35-40 minutes.

Remove pot from oven. Using 2 thin spatulas, transfer steaks to a cutting board, tent with aluminum foil and let rest while finishing sauce.

Bring the tomato mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Off heat, stir in remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove skin from steaks, and separate the quadrants of meat from the bone by slipping a spatula gently between them. Serve halibut with sauce.

Nutrition information per serving: 403 calories; 162 calories from fat; 18 g fat (3 g saturated, 0 g trans fats); 139 mg cholesterol; 539 mg sodium; 4 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 54 g protein. 

Complimentary Recipes 

Follow the link below to a great selection of wonderful North Pacific seafoods much of which is harvested by Seattle's fixed gear fishermen.

More Complimentary Recipes

Halibut Fish Tacos: Baja style vs. Grilled

The members of this local Seattle cooking club decided to utilize their culinary skills for a little friendly competition! The name of the game: what’s the best kind of fish taco? The two contestants: Baja style vs. gas-grilled halibut. They turned out to be delicious competitors! One spicy, beer battered, and deep fried to perfection, the other, subtly seasoned and cooked over a gas grill for clean flavor. You may want to host your own back yard challenge with these recipes!