A delightful dish of halibut poached in carrot butter, served with anchovy-roasted carrots and a fresh fennel salad.
Carrot Butter–Poached Halibut, Anchovy-Roasted Carrots, Fennel
Carrots are roasted with savory anchovy, while thinly shaved fennel makes a light, licorice-scented salad. The end result is a restaurant-worthy seafood dish.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds small carrots, with tops
- 31⁄2 cups unsalted butter
- 3 anchovy fillets, minced
- 3 lemons
- Kosher salt
- 2 cups fresh carrot juice
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed, plus 1 whole clove garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 halibut fillets, each about 6 ounces
- Maldon flake salt
Fennel Salad
- 1 fennel bulb, sliced 1⁄8 inch thick using a mandoline
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
- 1 tablespoon chopped white anchovies (boquerones)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Remove the carrot tops, wash, and set aside. Peel the carrots and halve them lengthwise. In a saute pan over medium heat, melt 125 g of the butter with the anchovies and the grated zest from two of the lemons. Add the carrots and season with kosher salt. Transfer to a baking sheet, spread in a single layer, and roast in the oven until slightly softened but still a little crunchy, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and toss with the juice of one lemon.
- In a shallow saute pan over medium heat, combine the carrot juice, the crushed garlic, bay leaf, and orange zest. Cook until reduced by three-quarters, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining 3 cups butter and stir until melted, then reduce the heat to very low and keep warm.
- Combine the carrot tops, the whole clove garlic, the olive oil, the juice of one lemon, and a pinch of kosher salt in a blender and blend until you have a fine pesto consistency. Set aside.
- To make the fennel salad, in a bowl combine the fennel, olive oil, chives, and anchovies and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Heat the carrot butter to 130°F over low heat. Season the halibut with kosher salt and add the fish to the butter. Keeping the butter at 130°F, poach the halibut until you can press down on the fish with a fork and don’t feel a pop, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spatula, transfer the halibut to a plate lined with paper towels. Squeeze the juice of the third lemon over the fish and sprinkle with Maldon salt.
- To serve, place roasted carrots in the center of four shallow bowls and top each with a halibut fillet. Top each halibut fillet with the fennel salad. Drizzle the pesto around the fish, spoon a tablespoon of carrot butter over each plate, and serve.