Here is a splendid dish to make when you’re in the mood for elevated comfort food. It’s easy and fast to make, impressive to serve, colorful, extremely flavorful and features halibut cheeks and saffron, two of my favorite delicacies.
Cooking with a tagine, helps keep it simple, the cone shaped lid circulates the moisture which retains the flavors inside and keeps the ingredients tender. If you don’t have a tagine you can use a skillet with a lid, or maybe you should just get one! Click on tagine to see a selection. I keep them on display in my kitchen. I have a traditional clay based model and one with a cast iron base {better for browning meats}. I keep salts in the mini’s, one with coarse salt, one with fine sea salt and one with Himalayan red salt.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup Mirepoix {1/3 cup chopped onions, 1//3 cup chopped carrots, 1/3 cup chopped celery}
- 1 pound halibut cheeks
- 1 preserved lemon
- 1 pinch saffron
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Rinse the halibut cheeks and pat them dry then season with salt and pepper.
In professional circles Mirepoix is often abbreviated to “poix”. It’s also called the “holy trinity” of French cuisine. The combination of carrots, celery and onions is the foundation to so many dishes, soups and sauces. It is usually cooked until just soft in olive oil or butter it adds sweetness, freshness and depth to the final creation.
Over medium heat warm the olive oil in the base of a tagine {or a skillet or pan with a lid}. Add the “poix” and stir occasionally until coated with olive oil and just tender.
Rub the saffron between your fingers to crumble it a bit as you sprinkle it over the vegetables.
Stir until the saffron is evenly mixed in with the vegetables.
I love to make preserved lemons and keep them in my refrigerator, the peel and flavored olive oil add such a great burst of flavor to meals. Click on preserve lemons with ease for my splendidly simple recipe.
If you have a whole preserved lemon you can cut it into quarters. I sliced the lemons before preserving them so I used 5 slices.
Scrape the pulp from the peel {it’s pretty salty, but you could reserve it to use in a salad dressing or sauce}
and slice the peel.
Stir the preserved lemons and any extra olive oil into the mix along with the chicken broth. Nestle the halibut cheeks into the mix, and put on the lid. The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the cheeks. In my case they took just over 10 minutes to cook in total. Take off the lid and check the cheeks at 5 minutes, turn them over and check again in 3 minutes. If you have some cheeks that are thinner than others pull them off as soon as they become slightly firm and white.
When they are all cooked through position cheeks in the vegetables/sauce and spoon some over the cheeks. Serve with couscous and a salad. Be sure to offer a spoon to allow guest to scoop the flavorful sauce and tender vegetables over their couscous.
Another thing I love about a tagine is that it goes from stove to table spectacularly. Just bring it to the table {along with the couscous and salad}, pull off the conical lid and enjoy the ooohs and awwws!
xoxo,
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