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Halibut Creole (Baked)
2 pounds halibut 2 cups stewed tomatoes I cup water 3 cloves I slice onion 2 tablespoons butter or other fat I tablespoon flour Salt and pepper Put the tomatoes, water, cloves and onion on the stove in a stew-pan to boil. Mix the butter or other fat and flour together, stir them into the sauce when it boils and add the salt and pepper. Cook ten minutes and strain into a bowl. Pour boiling water into a deep plate to the depth of one-half inch, and lay the fish in it for one minute, skin side down; when the fish is removed from the water, the black skin can be taken off easily. Wash the fish in cold water, season with salt and pepper and lay it on the baking sheet in a dripping-pan, put sliced lemon on top, then pour half the tomato sauce around the fish and bake for thirty to forty-five minutes, basting three times with the remainder of the tomato sauce. Pour the sauce remaining in the bottom of the pan around the fish on the serving platter.
A straightforward baked fish with a strained tomato sauce, written when a cook was trusted to judge her own oven. The two things worth fixing are the temperature, which is never stated, and the baking time, which belongs to a thick whole piece rather than a modern steak.
- Oven temperatureNone is given. A moderate oven, 350°F, suits this; the fish is partly braised in sauce and does not want browning heat.
- Time and donenessThirty to forty-five minutes assumes a thick two-pound center cut. Ordinary halibut steaks an inch thick are done in 15 to 20 minutes, at 130-135°F internal for moist flesh, 145°F if you want the full margin. Halibut is very lean and turns dry and chalky quickly.
- The scalding trickThe minute in half an inch of boiling water is only to loosen the dark skin, not to cook the fish. If your piece has already been skinned, skip the step entirely and go straight to seasoning.
- "Baking sheet in a dripping-pan"The dripping-pan is the roasting pan; the baking sheet is a flat sheet or rack set inside it so the fish can be lifted out whole. A shallow roasting pan alone works, with two spatulas for the transfer.
- Whole clovesThree whole cloves, not ground. They perfume the sauce during the ten-minute simmer and are removed at the straining, along with the onion slice.
- The rouxButter and flour are mashed together raw and stirred into the boiling liquid; two tablespoons of fat to one of flour makes a thin sauce. This is beurre manié; whisk it in a little at a time so it does not lump, and let it boil (the recipe allows ten minutes) to lose the raw flour taste.
- LemonNo quantity is given. Three or four thin slices laid over a two-pound piece is right; more turns the strained tomato sauce sharp as it reduces in the pan.
- YieldTwo pounds of halibut serves four generously, or six as part of a larger meal.