Vancouver ; A West Coast City with an East Coast Vibe. - Halibut with Winter Veg Stew..

Seared Halibut With Winter Veg Stew

Downtown Vancouver 

In October 2013 as I pondered over where in the world I would visit next, Canada kept coming up. My first thought was Montreal and then it was Toronto and Nova Scotia. I finally decided on Vancouver, mind you I have been to each city before but Vancouver holds a special place in my heart for a number of reasons. I grew up in the DC area and lived most of my young adult life in DC so I naturally love the city. Noisy streets, nosey neighbors that seem to mind their business at the right time but have the uncanny ability to pry when it matters most and busy streets are a welcome thing at all times to me. At the same time I love the wide open space and scenery of the wast coast, from open deserts, to snow capped mountains. If there is a West Coast City with an East Coast vibe then three most readily come to mind for me; San Fran, Seattle and Vancouver.

Night View From My Balcony 

Downtown Vancouver, B.C. 

Vancouver seems to marry all that I love about the East and the West, high rise buildings, snow capped mountains and large bodies of water. I challenge anyone to find a better location for this holy trinity. I'll wait, go there and then ask whomever to go to Vancouver and prove me wrong. The people are nice, the food is incredible and the vibe is inspirational.

On the menu today : Seared Halibut with Winter Vegetable Stew

When you travel I encourage you to get a hotel room with a kitchen, find the local market and get items to cook while you are traveling, not only will you save money, you will gain a wealth of knowledge about local fare. I'd go into more detail with it but that will be my next post. 

Kitchen Included With The Room

What we will need:

• Halibut (2-4 portions) 
• Garlic (2 Tbs)
• Tamari Soy Sauce (2 Tbs)
• Corn on the Cob (2 each)
• Watercress (3 bunches)
• Lime Leaves (10 each)
• Wild Mushrooms (8 oz)
• Vegetable or Mushroom Stock (3 cups)
• Salt & Pepper (to taste) 
• White Wine (1 cup)
• Butter (1 tsp)
• Olive Oil (1 Tbs) 
• Lemon Oil (to taste)

When you get the Halibut from your fish monger be sure to have them leave the skin on. You want to start off by concentrating the flavor for your veggie or mushroom stock. The way you do this is by adding the lime leaves and cooking the stock down by half before adding the white wine. Allow this to reduce for about 3-5 minutes more and set aside to be reheated before plating. 

So Much Sweeter Fresh Off The Cob

Cut the corn off of the cob, cut the watercress stems endings and clean off the watercress then rinse of the mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms until golden, add the corn cooking until slightly brown adding the watercress and finally adding 1/2 Tbs of garlic and setting aside for later use.

Winter Veg & Mushroom Stew 

For the halibut marinade in garlic, tamari, olive oil and a splash of white wine for no more than 45 minutes skin side up. When it is time to sear the Halibut start off by setting your oven to 450 degrees. Next take the fish out of the marinade and pat completely dry especially the skin (this helps to get a crusty sear on the skin and adds texture). Get a saute pan searing hot and add the olive oil and butter, liberally season the skin side of the fish with salt & pepper and place down in the pan. RESIST the temptation to move the pan or the fish for about 3-5 minutes. Take the pan off of the flame and taking a spatula flip the fish then place it in the oven to continue cooking for about 5-8 minutes or until done (depends on the size of your fish).

You will plate by adding the veggies first, heating up and then adding the liquid to the veggies to create your stew and then adding you fish skin side up as seen below. Garnish with a dash of lemon oil (it brings out the lime flavor in your stew), a sprig of watercress and a bit of salt. Enjoy with the wine of your choice but it goes really well with an oaky chardonnay.