halibut with flageolet beans

more original recipes and food photography at my blog, WRIGHTFOOD: www.mattikaarts.com/blog

 

pan seared halibut, flageolet beans, kale, sofrito and garlic confit

 

RECIPE:

 

Sofrito (adapted from Bouchon Cookbook):

3 large onions - finely diced

3 large tomatoes

1/2 cup olive oil

salt

 

Put the oil and onions in a medium sized saute pan. Bring up to a low simmer, and add a pinch of salt. Put the pan over a very low heat - just enough for the oil to very gently fizz around the onions, perhaps even less. Let this cook for a couple of hours. Stir every 20 minutes or so, just to make sure no pieces on onion are sticking to the sides of the pan.

 

Slice the tomatoes in half, and push out all the seeds. Grate these on the large holes of a box grater - cut side to the grater. This will grate in the tomato pulp, but leave the skins in your hand.

 

After the onions have cooked for a couple of hours in the oil they should be deeply colored. Add in the tomato to the pan, and another pinch of salt. Let this cook for a further 2 hours. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Store the sofrito, covered in the oil in a fridge.

 

Garlic Confit:

10 cloves of garlic (or more)

olive oil

 

Put the garlic cloves in a small saucepan. Pour in enough oil to completely cover the cloves. Cook over a gentle heat for 40 minutes. If the cloves start to brown, the oil is too hot. Allow to cool, then store the garlic in the fridge, covered with its oil.

 

Flageolet beans:

1 cup flageolet beans

1 onion (cut in half)

5 sprigs of thyme

green ends of 1 leek

1 bay leaf

1 carrot

5 sprigs of parsley

4 tablespoons of sofrito, and some of the sofrito oil

4 cloves garlic confit, crushed

1 anchovy fillet

water

1 handful of kale leaves

3/4lb halibut fillet - cut into two portions

 

The night before making the dish, soak the flageolet beans in a bowl of water. In a rush? you can use the quick soak method: Put the beans in a saucepan of water. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Let them sit for 1 hour before using.

 

Preheat oven to 400F

 

Tie the leek, thyme and parsley together with some kitchen twine. In a large saucepan put the onion, beans, tied up leek/thyme/parsley, bay leaf and carrot. Cover completely with water - make sure the water is a couple of inches about all the beans and veg. Bring to a simmer, and cook for about 40 minutes, until the beans are tender. Skim off any scum that might rise to the surface. Beans can be cooked the day before, and stored in the fridge for use the next day.

 

Setup a steamer. Personally I like the traditional bamboo steamer - they are large, steam fast, and, er, look rather nice. Steam the kale leaves until just tender. Cool in an ice bath, drain, dry and roughly chop. In a large saute pan add in the sofrito, garlic confit, and a couple of tablespoons of the sofrito oil. Heat gently over a medium flame until hot. Add in the anchovy fillet, and mix until amalgamated with the sofrito. Add in the beans. Cover the pan, and let this cook for about 15 minutes, until the beans are hot, and have taken on the flavor from the sofrito mixture.

 

Whilst the beans are cooking here, heat up a non-stick pan over a high heat, and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Put the halibut in flesh side down, and sear until nicely golden brown - about 6 minutes. Transfer to a roasting pan, and finish cooking in the oven - another 5 minutes or so. The fish is done when it is flaky, and just opaque all the way the through.

 

To finish the dish add the kale into the bean mixture. Gently mix to heat through the kale. Spoon this mixture onto two plates. Drissle with any of the oil left in the pan, or a teaspoon or so of the sofrito oil. Top with the pan roasted halibut.

 

Serve immediately.

Done