It’s fresh halibut season-woohoo! Halibut is one of my favorite fish and it’s even more amazing when you can get it fresh. If halibut is unavailable you can use any firm white fish, such as snapper, grouper, sea bass or rock cod in this dish. This recipe is from the Williams-Sonama website.

Ingredients:

¼ cup pine nuts

4 halibut fillets, 6-7 ounces each

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup dry white wine

1 ½ Tbs finely mince garlic

5 Tbs fresh basil leaves, shredded

½ cup Mediterranean style green and/or black olives, pitted

Preheat oven to 350°

Spread the pine nuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until they take on color and are fragrant, 5-8 minutes.

Remove from the oven and set aside. Increase the oven temperature to 400°.

Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper. Place in a baking dish in which they fit in a single layer. In a small bowl, stir together the olive oil and wine, pour over the fish. Top the fish with the garlic and basil and then distribute the olives around the fillets. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake until the fish is opaque throughout when pierced with a knife, 15-20 minutes. The timing will depend on the thickness of the fillets. Using a slotted spoon transfer the fish to warmed plates. Spoon the juices and olives from the baking pan over the fish and sprinkle the pine nuts on top.

Enjoy!

Today at the market I couldn’t resist the beautiful, fresh, whole snappers for sale. I decided to give this recipe from the Food Network a try. I turned out to be delicious and super easy. I served this with some sautéed asparagus and a green salad.

Ingredients:

2 Tbl high quality butter*

1 ½ to 2 lbs whole snapper, cleaned, head and tail removed, and butterflied open, bones removed (ask the store to do this for you)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Tbl garlic powder

1 Tbl tomato paste

1 teaspoon of hot sauce

2 limes, halved

1 orange

Preheat to oven to 350°. Line a large baking sheet with foil and dot with 1Tbl of butter.

Open the fish and place skin side down on the baking sheet. Roll up the edges of the foil to come close to the edge of the fish to prevent the juices from spilling onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the fish with the garlic powder and then spread the tomato paste onto the fish. Drizzle the fish with the hot sauce and then squeeze the limes over. Cut and squeeze the orange juice all over the fish. Then, using the flesh side of the orange, brush the fish all over to form a wet paste on top of the fish. Dot the fish with the remaining butter.

Bake the fish until just cooked through, about 15 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil until browned, 8 to 10 minutes.

*Substitute olive oil for the butter if you’re dairy free.