Pure Hunger

I have long had an aversion to making fish. There has never, however, been an aversion to eating it. As a good friend would say, I can pound that stuff. Unfortunately, my consumption of said scaly friend has been limited to restaurants or trips to Mexico. It wasn’t until recently that I really started to feel like I was mastering this skill with enough precision that I could make it a regular spot on our weekly menu. While feeling particularly uninspired in the cooking arena last week, I took it up on myself to peruse my pile of recipes I have torn out of magazines. These recipes are torn with the intention that I will cook them for dinner that week, then inevitably, I wind up making this or this and the recipe goes into “the pile”.

Ingredients

Adapted from Sunset Magazine September 2011

Hazelnut crust
3/4 cup toasted hazelnuts
1/8 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried

Fish and Salsa
4 white fish fillets
6 Tbsp melted unsalted butter/coconut oil
2 tbsp minced shallots/onions
1 3/4 cups chopped apple
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp mustard (Dijon, Honey, Yellow)
1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 tsp dried
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
pinch of cayenne

Coconut greens

I sorted through that pile with a mission and found several recipes that made me curious and salivate. Necessary requirements when in a cooking slump. This took very very little time or planning but did require a few ingredients you may not have on hand at home. I tell you it’s worth whatever extra trip you need to make to the store to make this happen in your house this week. The original recipe is a meal on its own but I also made coconut greens to add additional vegetables and taste.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Make crust: Whirl ingredients in food processor or blender until nuts are finely chopped.

Make fish: Brush fish with 3 Tbsp butter/coconut oil, pat nut mixture all over fish, and set on a greased baking sheet. Cook just until fish is opaque in center, 10-15 minutes. The thicker the fish, the longer it will cook. When it flakes easily when prodded a bit with a fork it is done.

Make salsa: Heat 3 Tbsp butter/oil in medium frying pan over medium-low heat, add shallots/onions and apple, and cook until slightly softened, about 2 minutes; remove from heat. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice and remaining ingredients; stir into apple mixture.

Serve halibut with apple salsa and sprinkle with a little more thyme.