Recipe request -- sort of....

[Randy Buckner]

Carole and I love grilled halibut (or any mild white fish). We usually just brush with butter, use a little salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon.

Do any of you have a simple recipe like this with a little more zing? Maybe an herb or two? Crushed garlic? Shallots? You get the picture -- no sauces.

Thanks so much ahead of time.

[John Tomasso]

I make an herbed bread crumb mixture, and press it into the top of the hali. Chopped parsley, garlic, shallot and thyme, moistened with a bit of olive oil. I top broil it rather than grill - but it's simple and tasty.

[Jeff Grossman/NYC]

Most good fish cookbooks can provide you with a couple pages of seasoned butters (...there's a lime-cumin one I like particularly...) and Penzey's offers a wide range of seasoned salts.

[Bernard Roth]

Last time I cooked halibut, like Tomasso, I breaded it. But I used Panko crumbs. I used salt, pepper, lemon zest and Aleppo pepper. Sauteed in a pool of EVOO spiked with a bit of butter. Delish!

Using seasoned Panko is so flexible. Once you get the hang of it, you'll do it often. The secret is to pat the fish dry with paper towel, coat with a little melted butter, and then coat with the seasoned crumbs. The melted butter is needed to get enough crumbs to stick to the fish.

[Howie Hart]

I like dill. Put some lemon juice on the fish before cooking and add dill weed and lemon juice to melted butter to pour over the fish when done.

[Marc D]

Hi Bucko,

I am with you on the fresh halibut, we love it grilled too. One thing you might try that we do once in a while is to top the halibut filet with some small pieces of prosciutto and fresh basil, some lemon zest and a drizzle of olive oil and then grill. I use thinly sliced prosciutto and tear it into small pieces. It is a nice flavor with the basil and works well with halibut.

[Jenise]

I make an herbed bread crumb mixture, and press it into the top of the hali. Chopped parsley, garlic, shallot and thyme, moistened with a bit of olive oil. I top broil it rather than grill - but it's simple and tasty.

John, that's a great method. I do a variation (credit for the idea goes to Mark Miller, Coyote Cafe) with a little Mexican seasoning and some crumbs made from food processing a couple fresh corn tortillas.

Another favorite is a simple piccata--lemon juice, butter, garlic and capers. Can't go wrong with that.

[Sonia Hambleton]

I use a thin smear of inaka miso, then top with finely chopped green onions. Sometimes I also top with ginger. We cook it on the grill (or in winter in the oven) in a tinfoil boat. The boat keeps the juices in as the halibut cooks and flavors up with the miso.

PS and totally not related - we now live in a house with a septic tank. You'll appreciate that I live in fear of it erupting! (a friend in the Keys has spent $12000 upgrading her system after last summer's hurricanes).

[Randy Buckner]

PS and totally not related - we now live in a house with a septic tank. You'll appreciate that I live in fear of it erupting!

Ah yes, the old $hit volcano! Cot us only $2,200, so we got off cheap....

[Sonia Hambleton]

We've been tidying up and learning how to garden. This included ripping out and killing ivy growing up a stone wall onto our house. While we were doing so we found an exterior wall outlet with a random extension cord plugged in. There were a couple more on another side of the house that led to tree lights which we had already unplugged. Since we didn't think THIS plug led to anything, we unplugged it.

2 weeks later the plumber was out for our $h*t issues. After he and Jeff dug up the septic and determing that it was overfull, the plumber saw the plug and said - hey - what's this? A minute later the tank was emptying - guess our random plug was the power cord for the pump.

I'm still terrified that the thing is going to pack it in one day. I've been getting periodic updates from my girlfriend in the Keys about their woes (including ruined cherry floors).

[Doug Surplus]

In a basil liime (or orange) cream sauce: just cream, butter, some onion and fresh lime or orange juice and basil. Saute the fish in butter, then add the rest and simmer until done. Simple and tasty - I recreated this after having the orange version in a resaurant in Carlsbad CA.