Halibut, Pheromones, and COSTCO – OR – Fast Fresh Fish for Families
How to turn Wild Alaskan Halibut into food, using COSTCO
If your go out on a Millers Landing fishing charter, odds are you have a lot of fish.
If you have a lot of fish, you’re probably going to attract a good looking person to share it with.
If you attract a good looking partner, you may have a child.
If you have a child, you probably have very little time, and keep a closer eye on your money.
If you have very little time and keep a close eye on your money, you probably do most of your shopping at COSTCO.
COSTCO, my friends, is amazing.
Meegan and Pearl watch the wheel of the water taxi boat
It’s clear the fish is to blame for this situation (it’s a pheromone after all), but to release it’s ultimate power you need to be able to prepare said fish, and you have very little time. To top it all off, the kid isn’t cheap – so you’re sorta broke, not to mention she has a total of seven teeth (none of them being molars). Factor in a developing immune system and the fact you need to eat too (and enjoy it) and basically you need to be able to quickly make thoroughly cooked and easily mushed food.
Good news for you? There’s no such thing as simple mush in the this household. So lets get down to brass tacks and switch from third to first person.
So here’s what I do about 4 nights a week (with minor variations) using a rice cooker and a counter top oven from COSTCO. In this dish I use brown rice, but you can use bulger, white rice, farrow, barley, or any grain really. I like this specific rice cooker because my water ratio is always as many cups of whatever grain I desire for that night, plus ½ cup of water. So 2 cups of rice is 2.5 cups of water. 5 cups of barley needs 5.5 cups of water. A cup of white rice needs 1.5 cups of water. I hope you get the idea, if not, taco bell is probably right around the corner. For us, its about 90 miles away, so we’ll stick to the recipe.
Is this device for cooking rice or steaming green vegetables? We’ll see…
The next step is to take whatever vegetable the kiddo loves and put it in the steam tray above the rice. Baby Pearl loves broccoli, so its pretty standard in our house. Go ahead and push start, its gonna take 30-35 minutes which is perfect timing for the next bit.
The veggies go right on top of the rice!
I got this oven which I like to refer to as an easy bake, COSTCO has all the hook ups.
A machine designed to roast vegetables, right from your counter top!
Turn your easy bake oven all the way up. I line the tray that comes with the oven with tinfoil for easy cleaning, put down a little olive oil, and set the fish on top of it.
This is what you’ll need to do it and how:
INGREDIENTS
- 1 large egg yolk*
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- 3/4 cup canola oil, divided
PREPARATION
- Go Halibut fishing – Fish with us on our charters or take yourself out on one of our Stabicraft (bonus points for saving money on the family fishing trip using the rental boats).
- Go to COSTCO – resist the urge to prepare the meal right there in the store – buy your products – go home.
- This is a recipe from Epicurious on how to make mayonnaise: Combine egg yolk, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Whisk until blended and bright yellow, about 30 seconds.
- Using 1/4 teaspoon measure and whisking constantly, add 1/4 cup oil to yolk mixture, a few drops at a time, about 4 minutes. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup oil in very slow thin stream, whisking constantly, until thick, about 8 minutes. Cover and chill. Do ahead. Can be made up to 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. If maybe you’re part of the subculture that likes to emulate the styles of Amish sailor bartenders – add a little more oil. Now its aioli.
Personally, I use miracle whip which, again, I get from COSTCO. It is wonderful.
Next put breadcrumbs on it – COSTCO.
Sport caught halibut with white sauce from a successful Miller’s Landing fishing charter, ready for the oven!
Because I knew I was going to be taking pictures of the food, I put on some sliced beets and zucchini, but the sordid truth is most nights one vegetable is fine. I tossed some Parmesan on it that had been sitting in my cheese drawer, then into my easy bake oven it goes!
Veggies for the bake machine, covered in smelly old cheese!
I set the timer for about 30 minutes, which normally would make me cry, but keeping safety of the kiddo in mind I need to make sure everything is thoroughly cooked. Without the veggies on board, a pair of consenting adults might cook the same fish, covered, at 450 for 12-13 minutes and find it perfect.
This is what it looks like when vegetables are inside an oven.
A few minutes before the timer goes off for the rice, I thrown in some frozen peas and some diced up sun dried tomatoes.
The result? All at once you have steamed broccoli, rice with peas and sun dried tomatoes, and halibut in a white sauce with breading and roasted beets/zucchini. It’s cheap, fast, and delicious!
Roasted Beets & Zucchini come out of the oven and closer to the mouth!
This recipe works for almost any fish, any grain, and any vegetable and it’s an easy clean up. Added bonus: if your lovely ten-month-old daughter decides to find her way on top of a bookshelf or hanging from a ceiling fan, you can generally walk away from it all for a few minutes without burning the house down.
A well balanced meal – Halibut, Vegetables, and Rice – a well balanced meal!
Good luck!!
Sometimes Pearl likes to deconstruct her meal