Gustavus Halibut

   When we arrived in our home in Juneau, AK, the owner left us with several pages of tips and instructions about the house.  One of these was a reminder that he had left about  20 pounds of frozen halibut in the deep freezer and we should feel free to eat it...PLEASE!  Halibut are a huge flat fish that lives on the bottom of the deep channels here.  They grow to be larger than the front door of your house, so I can see how one good day's fishing could leave you with a seemingly bottomless freezer full.

   I was describing this dilemma to Alexis, my clinic nurse who brought in the following recipe for us to try, insisting that this is the best possible way to cook halibut.  I was skeptical reading it.  Every single ingredient was white.  It must come out of the oven looking like a blob of wallpaper paste!  But I didn't want to disappoint my nurse so I cooked some up one night to rave reviews from the family.  Emmett has declared this to be the BEST FISH RECIPE EVER!  Which is something because let me tell you...the kid has eaten a lot of fish in his day!

   Just to satisfy my aesthetic sensibility, I added some green herbs on top to the original recipe.  I'm not sure that it adds much to the flavor, but it does make it look a bit prettier.  Remember:  we eat first with our eyes!

Soak a couple of 8 oz (or so) halibut fillets in white wine for 2 hours

Preheat oven to 500 °F

Drain halibut and pat dry, coat lightly with dry bread crumbs.  Place in a greased baking dish.

Cover fish with a mixture of:  2 Cups sour cream, 1 Cup mayonnaise, and 1 cup chopped onions.

Sprinkle top with more bread crumbs, Herbes de Provence, fresh thyme or parsley, etc.

Bake 20 minutes or until bread crumbs are browned and bubbly.  Serve immediately.