Seared Halibut With Anchovies, Capers And Garlic
Published November 25, 2003
Craig Lee for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter (or more oil)
1 ½ to 2 pounds halibut or swordfish steaks
Salt and pepper to taste
4 anchovy fillets or more to taste
1 tablespoon or more minced garlic
1 tablespoon drained capers
½ cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon lemon juice, or to taste
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
2 grams carbs; 150 milligrams cholesterol; 436 calories; 13 grams monosaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 26 grams fat; 592 milligrams sodium; 41 grams protein
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat, and leave it there until hot. Add oil and butter together. Butter should sizzle. When butter foam subsides, add fish, and season it lightly with salt and pepper. Brown fish, basting with pan juices, then turn, and brown again. Do not worry about cooking through. Turn off heat, put fish on an ovenproof plate, and place it in oven.
- Step 2
Turn heat under skillet to medium, and add anchovies and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until anchovies break up, just a couple of minutes. Add capers and wine, and turn heat to high. Cook until wine is reduced by half. Return fish and its juices to pan, and turn it in sauce once or twice. Fish should be cooked through by now. (A thin-bladed knife inserted into its thickest part will meet little resistance.)
- Step 3
Taste sauce, add some lemon juice, then taste again. It should be strong-tasting but only mildly acidic. Remove fish to serving plate, spoon sauce on top, and garnish with parsley.
Private Notes
Comments
Delicious.
But wait to add the minced garlic until the anchovies have melted. Otherwise you can end up with bitter, burned garlic.
So simple to make and simply delicious flavors to eat. If you're serving the "anchovy averse" you can leave them out and this is still taste bud tingling. If you are fans of the inexplicable extra zip of anchovies, this is even better with them in. We are particular fans of swordfish prepared this way but halibut too. We double the capers and roughly triple the lemon juice (a full tablespoon).
Made this for the first time last night with frozen swordfish steaks. It was phenomenal! Followed Zeus's recommendation to wait to add garlic and I agree. I put in more garlic, capers, and lemon than called for because I just live on the edge like that. The best thing is this is so easy, I can make it any weeknight.
My husband bought 1/2 lb. Halibut today, but didn’t think to buy a lemon. I found this recipe and gave it a try. We had some anchovy paste in the fridge, so I used some of that instead of anchovies. I tried making 1/4 of the sauce—should have made 1/2, but it was still okay. I would make it again. Our halibut was very thick, so I cooked the recipe as written, and the fish was not overcooked. We had it with yellow rice, leftover from the night before.
This was so easy to scale down for one person. I used fish sauce and put the fried halibut in my warming drawer, no need to put on the oven. Served it on a bed of put lentils and wilted spinach with new potatoes. Felt like a restaurant dish.
I also had a thick piece of halibut, put it in the oven at 375. It came out perfect. Have your sauce ingredients ready so that you can make the sauce quickly.