Baked Halibut Fillet with a Potato Chip Crust Dinner

• Corn on the cob, white and yellow
• Caesar and caprese salad
• Baked Halibut Fillet with a Potato Chip Crust

Baked Halibut Fillet with a Potato Chip Crust

- Ingredients

1/2 cup crushed potato chips - a good way to crush is to roll under a round wooden pestle or rolling pin
1/4 cup bread crumbs - used Panko crumbs
1 teaspoon dried dill - as I didn't have any dried dill, I ground up 2 tsp dill seed and then sieved out the hard cores, yeilding perhaps 3/4 tsp dill dust; I then added approx. 1/4 tsp curry powder, 1/4 tsp garam masala. Twas delicious, and subtle.
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 large salmon fillet (about 3 pounds), skin on - used a 1 1/2 lb fillet halibut - wonderful
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper

Garnishes

1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges
Fresh dill sprigs - I found a leftover green cilantro chutney which was a great idea, which recipe I don't have to hand but should be easy to find one on Internet: google green cilantro chutney.

Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 375° F. - I started out with the oven at 500° F.

In a small bowl, combine the crushed potato chips, bread crumbs, dill, (spice mix) and garlic; set aside. (Note that any contact with the crushed chips leaves a greasy film. Don't be dismayed, as it's the oil in the chips that keeps the fish so mosit as it bakes, I believe.)

Put the salmon (halibut) skin-side down on a lightly oiled, foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Remove any pinbones with a pair of needle-nosed pliers. Brush the surface of the salmon with the mustard, spreading it evenly (and thicker is better). Sprinkle the potato chip mixture over the mustard, packing it lightly with your fingertips so that it adheres to the surface. Season with the pepper.

Bake until the crust is golden brown and the salmon is opaque when a knife is inserted at the center of the thickest part, about 30 minutes. (I turned the heat down to 450, then 400. Although the fish was perfectly cooked, moist, tender and flaky, after 25-30 min., the crust only browned nicely where extra had fallen to the side of the fish. I place this pretty crumble on top of the finished fish.)

Using 2 spatulas, carefully transfer the fillet in one piece to a large serving platter, leaving the skin on the baking sheet; garnish with the lemon wedges and dill sprigs. (Or pour the green sauce around the fillet and serve on plates with portions. Extraordinary.)

Serves 6 (our 1/2 portion would have certainly been adequate for 3.)

(Nancy and I didn't quite finish our huge portions. They make excellent leftovers. I served this with boiled fresh yellow and white corn and the same Caesar salad - caprese combo I made for Nancy's birthday. In fact, this fish was to be the other course for her birthday, which we skipped as too much. And it would have been. We drank a nice California Merlot with this. A memorable meal.)

Copyright © 2003 by George Dolese & Steve Siegelman. Reprinted from Firehouse Food without permission from Chronicle Books. Jeanne is a third-generation San Francisco firefighter with a long history of salmon fishing. Her dad, who is now retired, still shows up at the station every now and then with a freshly caught king salmon for Jeanne and the crew. Needless to say, he’s invited to stay for dinner.