Category Archives: Blog Food

Steaming a fish, like Halibut, has some distinct advantages – you can cook it precisely without using any oil or on a grill or flat-top – and all you taste is the delicate nuance of the fish – no distraction. Perfection!

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: About 10 minutes

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce – most brands are OK – watch the salt content!
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock or broth
2 Tbsp honey or corn syrup
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp Asian-style chili sauce, to taste
1 Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 medium red bell pepper, cut into small cubes
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tsp finely chopped fresh grated ginger
1 small, ripe mango, peeled and cut into small cubes

4 (5 to 6 oz.) halibut fillets

2 green onions, thinly sliced

The side – we prepped a 1/2 cup of cooked Basmati Rice – the perfect compliment to this dish.

The sauce – Place the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and whisk until the cornstarch is dissolved.

Heat the oil in small pot set over medium-high.

Add the bell pepper, garlic and ginger and cook 2 minutes. Pour in the Teriyaki sauce mixture, bring to a simmer, and simmer 1 minute until lightly thickened. Be careful not to burn the garlic – burnt garlic changes everything!

Stir in the mango, turn the heat to low, cover and set aside the sauce until needed.

The Fish – Get out a large bamboo or stainless steel steamer. We used a steel one and used some parchment paper in a perfectly cut ring (of paper) in the bottom with around 10 pin holes punched in the paper.

Set the halibut in the steamer.

Cover the steamer, set over simmering water, and steam until the fish is just cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Plate the fish on top of the rice pilaf – top with sauce, sprinkle with green onion, and serve.
It’s delicious, it’s healthy and it has a zesty chili kick that you can regulate entirely to taste. Enjoy! Thanks to Eric Akis at the Times Colonist for this great recipe.

Click on the photo below for the bigger view.

Here is a another subtle variation on Alton Brown’s classic – it is not vegetarian but you can easily take out the sirloin and pitch in some firm tofu (grilled in advance of course…)

Use a 4L or 4-quart stock or stewing pot minimum – the biggest you have.

2 pounds Sirloin tip or lesser grade of beef (or pork… or Tofu)
4 tablespoons Canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 bottle of beer, medium pale ale (I used Philip’s Slipstream Cream Ale)
2 (16-ounce) container medium or hot salsa
60 tortilla chips (really! 60… not 59 or 61!)
1/2 cup chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped
2 medium onions – chopped
1 Yellow pepper chopped
1 Red pepper chopped
1 small Zucchini
1 large Pablano pepper chopped
2 Anaheim peppers chopped
1 chopped Habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers (be VERY, VERY careful with these peppers! There is a real risk of burning or blistering if your skin comes in direct contact with the seeds or chopped pepper flesh.)
2 medium carrots shredded (adds sweetness!)
2 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers in adobo)
2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoon ground cumin

Heat your stewing/cooking pot (largest one your have!)and toss/brown meat with the Canola oil and salt/pepper in smallish batches. Add the meat in 6 to 8 batches and brown on all sides, approximately 2-3 minutes per batch. Once each batch is browned, place the meat in a clean large bowl or plate.

Once all of the meat is browned and set aside, add several tablespoons of beer to deglaze the pot.

Depending on how dry your pot is, add a tablespoon or two of your favorite canola oil.

Put in onions, yellow and red peppers, zucchini and carrots to brown for around 5 to 7 minutes.
Add Pablano and Anaheim chopped peppers – cooking an additional 5 minutes
Add Chipotle peppers and adobo sauce – stir in well.

Add bottled salsa (1 bottle at a time) and beer gradually.
Add tomato paste and ground spices
Add corn chips.

Return meat to the mix.

bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes, reduce heat to LOW, cover
and simmer for 1 hour (minimum) 2 hours = better!

Depending upon how hot your Habanero, salsa and chilpotle chilis are will dictate how much of a sweat you will work up – add sour cream to serving for the more delicate among you! Be warned: Habanero chili’s are among the hottest chili peppers on the planet – they are easily hundreds if not thousands of times hotter than the lowly jalapeno pepper. Use extreme caution with these orange peppers. If you are not prepared to assume the risk, leave this pepper out.

After the chili has stewed for a few hours, a lot of the extreme edge of the peppers have been tamed – including the habanero chili’s – that said, this is a very, very hot and spicy disk: Want it milder? Back off on the chili powder, use a mild salsa and avoid the Habanero or Scotch bonnet peppers.

Serve with ice cold beer, corn chips and a cotton napkin for wiping your brow.

This batch would easily serve 16 to 20 hungry folks – I freeze the chili in plastic containers for frugal hot lunches!