Halibut, Saffron & Asparagus

Slip the blade of a knife against the skin of 454 g of halibut and cut through to remove it. Cut the halibut into 4 equal pieces

Mix ½ cup of sugar and ½ cup of kosher salt

Coat the halibut in the salt and sugar mixture. Let it sit for 15m to lightly cure

Dice 4 slices of bread into ¼ inch cubes

Peel 4 garlic cloves

Melt 1 cup of duck fat in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Bring it to 149 °C

Add the diced bread and stir occasionally. Fry until golden brown on all sides

Add the garlic and 1 bunch of thyme. Stir for 30s

Transfer the bread to a plate lined with paper towels to drain

Season with salt to taste. Remove the garlic and the thyme. The duck fat croutons are ready

Toast 1½ tbsp cumin seeds and 3 tbsp coriander seeds in a dry skillet until lightly colored and fragrant. Transfer to a mortar

Toast ¼ cup of pine nuts in a dry skillet until light golden. Add salt to taste

Add 3 tbsp of dried garlic flakes. Add cumin powder and Aleppo pepper to taste to the mortar

Add 1 tsp of coarse salt and grind the ingredients until you reach a medium-coarse powder

Add pine nuts and saffron to taste to the mortar

Grind until the pine nuts are broken, but stop before they get pasty. The spice mix rub is ready

Peel 1 lemon

Peel 4 garlic cloves

Add the garlic, the lemon, and 1 bunch of thyme to 1 L of extra virgin olive oil. Heat to 125 °C

Gently rinse the halibut in cold water and pat it dry

Submerge the halibut in the oil

Poach for 40-55m until a cake tester can pierce the halibut without resistance

Trim, peel, and thinly slice 5 shallots

Trim and thinly slice 1 fennel bulb

Heat a pan over medium-low heat and add ⅓ cup of extra virgin olive oil

Add the shallots and fennel to the pan. Sweat until soft and translucent but without color. Mix periodically

Add salt to taste and continue to sweat the ingredients

Raise the heat to medium. Add ½ cup of white wine and reduce it by half

Add a pinch of Aleppo pepper and a heavy pinch of saffron

Simmer for 5m to incorporate the flavors

Scoop 1 jar of yellow cherry tomatoes and reserve the liquid

Add the liquid to the pan and reduce it by half

Press the tomatoes and add any additional liquid to the pan. Continue to simmer for 10m to concentrate the flavors. Remove from the pan

Cut ⅔ cup of butter into large chunks

Add the fennel and shallots to a blender. Blend on medium speed until smooth

Add the butter pieces, one at a time, while blending on low speed

Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a saucepan

Season with salt to taste, 1 tsp of champagne vinegar, and 1 tsp of shio koji. Keep warm over low heat

Add the yellow cherry tomatoes. The tomato saffron sauce is ready

Fill ¾ of a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Season heavily with salt

Remove the woody bottoms from 1 bunch of asparagus

Spread olive oil on a grill and preheat it to high heat

Blanch the asparagus for 20s until their color brightens, but the asparagus is barely cooked

Season with olive oil and salt to taste

Grill the asparagus with a press until lightly charred and slightly tender

Season with salt, lemon, black pepper, and aleppo pepper to taste. The grilled asparagus are ready

Remove the halibut from the oil

Remove excess protein and oil. The poached halibut is ready

Spread 2 spoons of the tomato saffron sauce in the center of a plate. Line up some grilled asparagus parallel to each other on top of the sauce

Fill the spaces between the asparagus with duck fat croutons

Dust some of the spice mix rub over each of the halibut pieces

Put 2 halibut pieces on top of the asparagus and croutons. Drizzle them with extra virgin olive oil to taste

The halibut, saffron & asparagus dish is ready! Enjoy it on a date night or with some friends, accompanied by a great glass of wine!