Pan-Roasted Halibut Steaks
By America's Test KitchenPublished on March 31, 2011
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Chipotle-Garlic Butter with Lime and Cilantro
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (½ stick), softened1 canned chipotle chili in adobo, seeded and minced, with 1 teaspoon adobo sauce1 medium clove garlic, pressed through garlic press or minced to paste (about 1 teaspoon)1 teaspoon honey 1 teaspoon grated lime zest 2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro leaves ½ teaspoon table saltHalibut Steaks
2 tablespoons olive oil 2 halibut steaks, each about 1¼ inches thick and 10 to 12 inches long (about 2½ pounds total), gently rinsed, dried well with paper towels, and trimmed of cartilage at both endsBefore You Begin
This recipe calls for a heavy ovenproof skillet. If you plan to serve the fish with the flavored butter below, prepare it before cooking the fish. Even well-dried fish can cause the hot oil in the pan to splatter. You can minimize splattering by laying the halibut steaks in the pan gently and putting the edge closest to you in the pan first so the far edge falls away from you.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
- Beat butter with fork until light and fluffy; stir in remaining ingredients until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
- Rinse steaks, dry well with paper towels, and trim cartilage from both ends. Heat oil in 12-inch, heavy-bottomed, ovenproof skillet over high heat until oil just begins to smoke, about 2½ minutes.
- Sprinkle both sides of both halibut steaks generously with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-high, swirl oil in pan to distribute; carefully lay steaks in pan and sear, without moving them, until spotty brown, about 4 minutes (if steak is thinner than 1¼ inches, check browning at 3½ minutes; thicker steaks of 1½ inches may require extra time, so check at 4½ minutes). Off heat, flip steaks over in pan using two thin-bladed metal spatulas.
- Transfer skillet to oven and roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into steaks reads 140 degrees, flakes loosen, and flesh is opaque when checked with tip of paring knife, about 9 minutes (thicker steaks may take up to 10 minutes). Remove skillet from oven and separate skin and bones from fish with spatula. Transfer fish to warm platter. Dollop a portion of butter over pieces of cooked fish, allowing butter to melt; serve immediately.
for the flavored butter
for the fish
Yield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
Chipotle-Garlic Butter with Lime and Cilantro
Halibut Steaks
Ingredients
Chipotle-Garlic Butter with Lime and Cilantro
Halibut Steaks
Ingredients
Chipotle-Garlic Butter with Lime and Cilantro
Halibut Steaks
Why This Recipe Works
Chefs often choose to braise halibut instead of pan-roasting or sautéing because this moist-heat cooking technique keeps the fish from drying out. The problem is that braising doesn't allow for browning, therefore producing a fish that the test kitchen considers bland-tasting. We didn't want to make any compromises on either texture or flavor, so we set out to develop a technique for pan-roasting halibut that would produce perfectly cooked, moist, and tender fish.
Halibut is most frequently sold as steaks, but there is quite a bit of range in size; to ensure that they cooked at the same rate, we chose steaks that were as close in size to each other as possible. We knew we could get a crust on the fish by pan-searing or oven-roasting, but neither technique proved satisfactory. A combination of the two proved best: browning on the stovetop and roasting in the oven. To be sure the steaks wouldn't overcook, we seared them on one side in a piping-hot skillet, then turned them over before placing them into the oven to finish cooking through. When they were done, the steaks were browned but still moist inside. To complement the lean fish, we paired the halibut with a rich flavored butter.
Before You Begin
This recipe calls for a heavy ovenproof skillet. If you plan to serve the fish with the flavored butter below, prepare it before cooking the fish. Even well-dried fish can cause the hot oil in the pan to splatter. You can minimize splattering by laying the halibut steaks in the pan gently and putting the edge closest to you in the pan first so the far edge falls away from you.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
- Beat butter with fork until light and fluffy; stir in remaining ingredients until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
- Rinse steaks, dry well with paper towels, and trim cartilage from both ends. Heat oil in 12-inch, heavy-bottomed, ovenproof skillet over high heat until oil just begins to smoke, about 2½ minutes.
- Sprinkle both sides of both halibut steaks generously with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-high, swirl oil in pan to distribute; carefully lay steaks in pan and sear, without moving them, until spotty brown, about 4 minutes (if steak is thinner than 1¼ inches, check browning at 3½ minutes; thicker steaks of 1½ inches may require extra time, so check at 4½ minutes). Off heat, flip steaks over in pan using two thin-bladed metal spatulas.
- Transfer skillet to oven and roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into steaks reads 140 degrees, flakes loosen, and flesh is opaque when checked with tip of paring knife, about 9 minutes (thicker steaks may take up to 10 minutes). Remove skillet from oven and separate skin and bones from fish with spatula. Transfer fish to warm platter. Dollop a portion of butter over pieces of cooked fish, allowing butter to melt; serve immediately.
for the flavored butter
for the fish
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