The Alaska halibut season kicked off in mid March and big gorgeous fillets of fresh halibut are now arriving in Seattle's fish markets, restaurants, and grocery stores.
I love halibut and became seriously hooked on this meaty flat fish when I was living in Anchorage about five years ago. I purchased it from a local fisherman at the South Anchorage Farmers Market. It was obviously caught the day before.
After we moved back to Seattle, my husband took my son back to Anchorage the following summer. They rented an RV from Great Alaskan Holidays in Anchorage and then went halibut fishing with friends out on the Kenai Peninsula. Will and his buddy loved that adventurous fishing trip and continue to talk about it to this day. The result of that trip was that my husband came home with great memories and a year's worth of flash frozen Alaskan halibut for my freezer! What a treat. When I calculated the weight and monetary worth of that halibut, I think the bottom line totaled a couple thousand dollars.
Even though I had a lot of halibut to work with that winter, I wanted to stretch it as far as I could. We tried various preparations and one of our favorite inventions was the "Haliburger." We simply sliced a chunk of halibut off the larger fillet and preheated the cast iron frying pan. Sometimes, Chris would add blackening seasoning and sometimes he'd just sprinkle the halibut with a little salt. We would then pan sear the mini fillet. While the fillet was quickly searing, we would ready our plates with hamburger buns, shredded iceberg lettuce, and a little Marina tartar sauce. Once the halibut was cooked, we'd assemble our haliburger and chow down. We found that this was a great way to stretch a delicious wild fish and serve dinner in a flash. The added bonus was that the children loved the haliburgers as well.
So, if you are pining for some fresh Alaskan halibut, give this simple sandwich a try.
--Melissa A. Trainer
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