Seared Halibut w/ a Saffron Chipotle cream sauce served over a bed of risotto

Now I wanted to start this off with one of my favorite entree course’s. This dish has a nice delicate flavor from the halibut that melts in your mouth when combined with the savory cream sauce. The rich risotto, the spice from the sauce and the cooling sour punch from the grape tomatoes in this dish will set your taste buds ablaze. I would definitely make this for a early dinner with the in laws. Serve it with a salad and Baguette or some other nice stiff bread to soak up the delicious sauce. that is if there is any left over!

Ingredients: The portion sizes shown in the picture are much smaller then the one in this recipe. The picture above was for a 5 course meal.

Risotto:
-4 garlic cloves minced
-1/2 large white onion minced
-1 Tbs Butter
-1 cup dry white wine
-4 cups Arborio Rice
-6 cups of Chicken stock, more if needed.
-2 tsp salt and pepper
-1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese.

Sauce:
-2 minced garlic cloves
-2 tsp minced shallots
-1/2 Tbs EVOO extra virgin olive oil
-1 qt Heavy cream
-1 Tbs Chipotle puree
-Tiny Pinch of Saffron
-salt and pepper to taste

Halibut:
-5 5oz portions (size depending on your portion preference)
-1 Tbs salt and pepper (as needed)
-5 pinches Fresh roasted and ground cumin seeds
-5 Pinches of High capsaicin cayenne pepper
-1 Tbs Olive oil

Garnish:
-Micro-Greens: My favorite is radish micro-greens, it has a very unique strong and spicy taste.
-18 or so Grape tomatoes- served raw or lightly sauteed.

Directions: Oven at 350F

The risotto:
-Bring a large heavy bottom sauce pan to a medium high heat.
-Add butter, onions and garlic and saute until fragrant.
-Add the white wine and reduce by 3/4th the original volume.
-add stock and bring to a boil, then add rice, salt and pepper.
-bring down heat and cook stirring constantly until rice is tender. (add more stock if necessary).
-Add Parmesan cheese at the end and stir. set aside to rest.

As for the Sauce:
-Bring a small sauce pan to a medium high heat. Add olive oil.
-after the oil is hot add shallots & garlic and saute until fragrant (about 10-15 seconds)
-add heavy cream and bring to a light boil, reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half or the mixture begins to thicken.
-add Chipotle, saffron, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Adjust seasoning to your taste.
-See Halibut for next step

Halibut:
-4 5oz portions of fresh halibut
-lightly sprinkle salt and pepper
-Light pinch fresh ground and toasted cumin seeds. & a very light pinch of cayenne.
-rub spices in and then add 1 tsp olive oil to each and let rest.
-sear halibut in a skillet at a medium high heat for 45 seconds or until golden on one side. Then flip it and add it to your sauce.
-Bake in sauce at 350F until internal temperature reaches 145F.
-serve immediately.

Note: If the your sauce is too thick add 1 Tbs of heavy cream at a time to reach desired consistency. To thicken it more; cook longer or maybe make a slurry out of corn starch and cold water.



To Serve: Add sauce on bottom of the bowl and then place risotto in the middle heaping a few centimetres above the pool. Place seared fish on top and then place garnishes. Serve with bread and a nice light white wine.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I enjoyed creating it.