When students or friends are talking cooking, the comment that comes up quite often is, “I just don’t know what to make for dinner.” Even I feel that way once a while and maybe you do, too. To avoid jumping in the car and going to a restaurant and spending money or cooking scrambled eggs and toast (though I love scrambled eggs and toast), I try and make a menu each week. That helps a lot. If the penciled menu and I are not on the same page on a given day –let’s say we ate some leftovers for lunch instead saving them for dinner– my fast meal answer is always fish. I keep 3 or 4 kinds of fish in the freezer and sometimes more. If I bag the fillets tightly in a ziplock bag (after removing the original plastic packaging for safety) and stick them in a bowl of cold water for thawing, I can be grilling or sautéing or roasting our meal in a half hour. A salad gets tossed while the fish cooks–or maybe only tomatoes sliced if it’s summer and the tomatoes are perfect. Soon, dinner is on the table. Other nights, I’ve planned ahead on a gorgeous fish dinner complete with scrumptious sides and that’s what today’s Grilled Halibut with Basil Salsa on Corn and Poblano Risotto is all about.
You might remember our good fisherman friend, Lee Lehmkuhl? He and wife Pam –who’s in charge of keeping their several freezers in order–occasionally gift us with some toothsome halibut fillets from Alaska–good folks that they are. Given the price of halibut even at COSTCO and the fact that we love halibut, we are to no end thrilled. An easy fix is to grill some asparagus along with the fillets and warm a little baguette but for date night or for a dinner when friends are coming over, there’s little like risotto to make a meal feel uber-special. I had fresh corn and poblanos left over from Cinco de Mayo and when I took the fish out of the freezer to leave it overnight in the fridge (yes, that’s planning), I knew I was making Corn and Poblano Risotto, a blog specialty from 2021. While risotto isn’t difficult, it is a bitty-bit time consuming, so I give you the optional idea of buying a pack of Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice mix, which is good as a bed for nearly any simple grilled or roasted protein. The basil salsa really makes the fish, so I’d say, “Don’t skip it!” If you’re not making it for whatever reason, don’t use jarred salsa– just squeeze a bunch of lemon over the top of the fillets and garnish with an extra grind of fresh black pepper. Or you could even use only diced and well-seasoned tomatoes and still keep the fresh attitude the salsa brings to the meal. However you make it, I think you’ll be happy when you try this:
Grilled Halibut with Basil Salsa on Corn and Poblano Risotto
Ingredients
- 4 (6-oz) Halibut fillets — or other firm white fish fillets
- olive oil
- kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
- crushed red pepper
- Basil Salsa (recipe in notes at bottom)
- Corn and Poblano Risotto (separate recipe below)
- 1 lemon, quartered– for serving
Instructions
- PREPARE THE FISH: Pat the fillets dry, brush with olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, and just a pinch of crushed red pepper. Set aside.
- HEAT THE GRILL: Heat a stovetop grill pan over medium flame for 2 minutes. Brush pan with oil.
- COOK THE FISH: Grill fillets 4 minutes on one side. Turn carefully and grill another 3 minutes OR until just firm and opaque. Do not over cook.
- SERVE: Serve immediately on warm plates atop a generous scoop of corn and poblano risotto. Top each fillet with a couple of tablespoons of basil salsa and add a wedge of lemon to the side.
Notes
***also tasty on chicken or fish tacos or scrambled eggs
- 1/4 cup each chopped fresh basil and spinach
- 1 tablespoon minced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon grated or finely minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper
- 1 small tomato, chopped finely
More veggies for you? Sauté spinach; grill asparagus; steam green beans; roast cabbage.
Grilling outdoors? Read Steven Raichlen’s recipe for grilled halibut here. No grill indoors or out? Cook your fish in a skillet on the stove.
About my basil salsa… Here in the states, salsa (which is Spanish OR Italian for sauce) is often thought of as the spicy jarred (or fresh) variety served with lots of crisp tortilla chips or in a bowl on the table for Taco Night. The herb of choice is cilantro but I like to make it with basil — with or without jalapeño–as a fresh topping for eggs, chicken, or fish. It can have all the ingredients I’ve listed in the recipe above or be simpler with only basil, tomatoes, and green onions, for instance.
Here, we have Sriracha Eggs on Biscuits –and no, this doesn’t have to be very hot–with my basil salsa. So much salsa. So little time. Nice on simple grilled salmon, chicken, or chops, as well.
Corn and Poblano Risotto
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons each olive oil and salted butter
- ½ large poblano pepper, seeded and minced (use jalapeño or mixture of poblano and jalapeño for a spicier risotto)
- 2 large shallots, diced (can sub medium red onion)
- 3 ears of cooked sweet corn, kernels removed from the cobs –about 1½ cups of corn – divided.
- 1 ½ cups arborio rice
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper–plus more for serving
- Pinch of Aleppo pepper -can sub a tiny pinch of crushed red pepper
- 6 cups hot homemade chicken stock -can sub low sodium chicken broth
- 2 oz 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- ¼ cup lightly toasted pine nuts
- Optional: a tablespoon or two of butter or heavy cream
- Garnish: sliced cherry tomatoes
Instructions
- SAUTÉ THE VEGETABLES. In a wide, heavy-duty 5-6 quart pot, heat the olive oil and butter over medium flame. Sauté the poblano for two minutes and remove half of it to a small bowl. Stir the shallots and ½ cup of the corn into the remaining poblano and sauté, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until softening. Add the other 1 cup of corn to the small bowl of poblano and set that bowl aside.
- ADD THE RICE. Stir in the rice until the grains are well-coated with fat and cook for a few minutes or until the rice is translucent and very lightly toasted.
- POUR IN THE WINE and, stirring, cook a few minutes until it has mostly been absorbed or evaporated.
- ADD THE BROTH A LADLE OR TWO AT A TIME. Stir in the salt, pepper, and Aleppo pepper. Pour in two ladles of broth and stir well. Simmer until broth is absorbed and you can see the bottom of the pot when you pull a rubber spatula across it. Continue adding the broth a ladle or two at a time, stirring and simmering until it’s absorbed and then adding more – about 20 minutes or until rice is done to your liking (al dente is usually named here, but do as you like, please) and the mixture is creamy not runny. Taste the rice as you go along (after, say, the first 10 minutes) to see when it’s getting nearly done. If it’s not done and you’re going to run out of broth, add some water or more broth to the broth pan so that it heats and continue to add to the rice until it’s done. When rice is cooked to your liking, remove pot from heat.
- STIR IN THE PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO, PINE NUTS, AND RESERVED CORN AND POBLANOS. Taste and adjust seasonings. Cover for a few minutes. Stir well. The risotto should be creamy and fairly loose. If risotto isn’t creamy and loose enough, but instead sticky or gummy/gloppy, you can add more broth or the optional butter/heavy cream. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve hot.
- Store leftovers tightly covered for 2-3 days. You can reheat in a small pot to 160 degrees F or make into patties and fry with eggs or for salad. I wouldn’t freeze risotto.
Notes
Need detailed risotto making info? Check out my original post here.
Leftover risotto? Make risotto cakes! Form into 1/2″ x 3″ or 4″ patties and fry gently on both sides until browned and crispy. Serve as is for a side or place on a large slice of tomato and top each risotto cake with a poached egg for breakfast. Or cook the risotto cake on one side, turn, and crack an egg on either side. Season, cover, lower heat, and cook until done to your liking. (See photo above.)
Not familiar with poblano peppers? A large, dark green mild chile pepper –also know as ancho when dried– originating in Puebla, Mexico, this pepper is used for a large variety of dishes such as Chiles Rellenos or Chiles en Nogada. Nearly as sweet as a green bell pepper and only 1/8 as hot as a jalapeño, they’re delicious diced and sautéed with onions for scrambled eggs or roasted (see above) and peeled to be slow cooked with pork.
No time for risotto? Try Ben’s mix, adding sautéed diced poblanos and corn if you like.
Want to make the cauliflower soup? I basically used the recipe above, omitting the ginger and yogurt and adding the sautéed diced mushrooms with garlic as a garnish.
Upping your fish game? You might also like my:
Blog note: Each year in the spring for many years now, I blog only fish and seafood dishes for the Christian season of Lent. There are lots of other fishy recipes here and you’ll find many of them all if you click on FISH AND SEAFOOD in the word cloud. You can also type in specific varieties in the SEARCH box—such as “salmon” or “shrimp.”
LIFE GOES ON:
There’s a new kid on the block. OR: Lurky Turkey gets a new friend!
If you’ve followed the blog for the last couple of years, you’ll remember my neighborhood wild turkey hen I named “Lurky Turkey.” She always seemed so alone and sad. Until now.
Meet Tom:
Another view of Tom, who’s quite gobbly vocal, without his feathers all puffed out:
And here Tom is with Lurky up on a neighbor’s fence. Bad photo taken through a storm door; I didn’t want to startle this sweet pair.
Sometimes things just work out, don’t they? And Lurky is no longer alone. Does a heart good.
We all need someone,
Alyce
