Brown Butter Halibut with Celeriac Puree and a Crisp Caper Crumb Recipe
So tonight's dinner involved some halibut, per KG it's cheaper than fillet steak but you'll get steak in every restaurant but only Halibut like this in maybe the top 10 in Ireland.
Ingredients you'll need are - I'll break each part down
Celeriac Puree
25g butter
300g celeriac cut into small cubes
200ml milk
75ml double cream
Seasoning
Fish
4 portions halibut, about 160g each, i used large stuff and cut them in 1/2
120g butter
1 shallot chopped finely
4 peppercorns
Bay Leaf - optional
Caper Crumb
60g bread crumbs
40g butter
2 tsp capers, roughly chopped
small bunch parsley, fresh is best
Puree
Melt butter and add celeriac, medium to high heat and brown it slightly, pour in milk and cream and leave simmer for 15-20 mins until soft. Strain and keep liquid. Blend up the celeriac and then use some of the liquid to make to the right puree texture.
Season this well as it's gonna need it :) Season and taste and repeat though. This can be heated again for serving.
I'm spoiled with an industrial blender so if you don't have a good one blend as best you can and push it through a sieve with wooden spoon instead.
Fish
Oven to 140c
If you have an oven proof pan or just a saucepan (without plastic handles). Melt the butter and add the shallot, peppercorns and bay leaf if using. Keep an eye under all the froth for when it starts to brown and take it off the heat, give it a good stir. It should start smelling nutty.
Leave it for a minute of two (good time to make your breadcrumbs)
Once cooled a little lower your fish gently into it and baste it well with the butter mix. Put it in the oven then for about 4 mins, longer if using slightly bigger pieces of fish.
Using 2 forks turn gently in the pot/pan, i use the the side of the pot to help and make it easier, help stop and breaking of the fish that way.
Back in the oven for 4 mins or so again.
Halibut can dry out very fast so be sure not to overcook it if possible.
Crispy Caper Crumb
Melt your butter and add it to your crumb and mix them well, return to the pan you melted your butter on, easier than trying to mix the crumbs and butter on the pan.
Once nice and crispy add your capers and parsley, another minute will be grand on this.
I served mine with asparagus, the pic is only the one to try impress people, my real plate had 2 bits of fish, big spoon of the crumb and puree, 7 asparagus and spuds :) Fish, asparagus, crumb, butter is how i layered it all ;)
Use the butter from the fish as your sauce over everything.
Plenty of breadcrumbs on your plate, big spoon of the puree and plenty of the melted butter sauce from the fish.
I went back for seconds on the puree and crumb, and the butter (",)