I Try A New Sauce And Cooking Method In The Same Dish!

I made this recipe during my “52 In 22 Cooking Challenge”, and I wanted to tackle it again, because it was a new cooking method AND a new sauce I’d never had before!

I had never cooked fish in olive oil – what was I waiting for? It turned out to be one of the most delicious – and beautiful – dishes I’ve ever made!

And I also made a “Piperade” for the first time!

Piperade is a vibrant, rustic sauce or dish from the French Basque region, made from sautéed onions, peppers (often green), tomatoes, and garlic, seasoned with the mild, fruity heat of Piment d’Espelette. Its red, green, and white colors coincidentally mirror the Basque flag. It’s incredibly versatile, served as a side for meats and fish, a base for eggs, or even as a pasta sauce.

My First Ever Fresh Piperade!

Before we cook the main dish, let’s whip up fresh piperade as well!

Now, let’s add another word, because one cookbook told me that “piperade” is simply a combination of roasted sweet bell peppers and when combined with deeply cooked onions, becomes a “Soffrito”.

Here’s what I did first:

3 cups diced onions

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp minced garlic

1 pound plum tomatoes, can be from a can as well

salt

Combine the onion, oil and a pinch of salt in a saucepan and put over medium heat…once the onions begin to cook, lower the heat and cook the onions for 2-1/2 hours until a rich golden brown. 

I let mine cook for an additional hour and they got even more color!

After that extended cooking process, add the tomato pulp to the onions and cook another 2 hours.

Trust me, it smells great! 

After that amount of simmering time, add more salt and the minced garlic – you’ve made a “Soffrito!”

Next Up, Homemade “Piperade!”

A “piperade” is a combination of roasted sweet bell peppers and the “soffrito.” So let’s roast the peppers!

The ingredients for Piperade:

1 pound yellow bell peppers

1 pound red bell peppers

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt

1 cup piquillo peppers

red pepper flakes to tsaste

red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Halve the peppers through the core and discard the seeds…place the peppers cut side down on the baking sheet and drizzle with oil and salt.

Bake in the oven until the skin is blistered and browned, about 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, put in a large bowl, and cover with cling wrap to allow them to steam.

When the roasted bell peppers are cool enough to handle, peel them and then slice into 1/4-inch by 2 inch slices.

Now, add all of your peppers in a sauce pan, add the red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste and simmer for ten minutes.

It is delicious, and the best thing? You can use the rest for up to a week when refrigerated!

Now, time to poach the fish and compile our dish!

Here are your ingredients for the olive oil poached Halibut:

6 oz. pieces of Halibut

3 to 4 cups of extra virgin olive oil

4 thyme springs

1 head of garlic

1/2 cup chicken stock

parsley

salt and pepper

Make sure your fish is dry. 

Place the Halibut in a sauce pan that just holds them – you dont want a lot of extra space, and add your olive oil, making sure the filets are completely covered. 

Now, remove the fish and put on a plate – yes, that was just to measure how much olive oil you needed, because now you want to warm up the oil until it hits 140 degrees, then add the thyme and garlic – pull it from the heat and let it infuse for a half hour.

It’s “Halibut Poaching” Time!

Now, add the fish back into the infused oil, heat until it’s between 115 and 125 degrees, and that’s it: the Halibut will poach in the oil in 15-20 minutes!

Time to plate!

I placed the fish on top of some of the Soffrito, which was just the caramelized onion, tomato and garlic. I put the Piperade on top and I liked the textural and flavor difference!

I think this is one of the most beautiful dishes I’ve attempted so far…this dish just can’t take a bad picture!

More importantly, the fish was deliciously moist, and the sharp bite of the soffrito and the piperade gave it a tangy goodness!

Poaching fish in herb-infused olive oil was a great way to cook and I plan to do it again!

I am always looking for new ways to cook fish, like this:

It’s “Fish In Crazy Water” and you can see the recipe here!

Thanks to my Sister-in-Law Cherie, who is a great Chef, I learned how to “veracruz” my fish!

See how I did it here:

I also enjoy cooking from Michael Ruhlman’s many great cookbooks.

Ruhlman was one of the judges on my PBS cooking competition “Cooking Under Fire”:

I made the “Pulled Pork Pasta With Almond Cream Sauce” from the cookbook and it was delicious – for those not in the mood for fish!

You can see it here:

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