Wild Fish Elegance

My kids are home from school because of Presidents’ Day and we are taking it slow. Lots of wet snow fell down here at sea level last night and into the morning, and I am sure that a lot of wonderful “Champagne” powder fell on Eaglecrest last night. Achh! I try not to think of the good snow that I am missing and it is nice to have an extra day with my babies. I’ll get out on my skate skis later when my husband gets home from work.

We still have some nice pieces of fish in the freezer that we are trying to ration out until we can replenish our stock this summer. Today I pulled a piece of halibut out and set out to researching recipes. I ended up finding a nice looking one in the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) produced cookbook called Wild Wonderful Alaska Seafood. Not only is Alaska’s seafood all wild caught, but it is sustainable because of the state’s effective management practices. As a consumer you can rest easy knowing that you are making a responsible seafood choice when you buy Alaska seafood, a healthy choice as well.

The recipe I found looks relatively easy to make, Grilled Wild Alaska Halibut with Lemon & Thyme Dressing. The fish is served on a bed of zucchini or courgettes and leeks and covered with the dressing when it is plated. It looks very fresh and tangy and I have shared the recipe above in a picture due to my lack of energy for transcribing the recipe. The ASMI website has a recipe search engine if you find yourself needing a recipe to go with a certain type of seafood: http://recipes.alaskaseafood.org/.

The first wine that leaps to mind for pairing is a Chardonnay. The best representation of Chardonnay I have ever experienced is a Burgundy from Puligny-Montrachet. It was from the widely distributed negociant house of Louis-Jadot, yet memorable. This morning I was reading a piece about Chardonnay and its various expressions by region and the author who contributed to Seth M. Long’s Seler d’or blog and his February’s 29 days of Chardonnay project stated that, “Puligny-Montrachet is highly strung and nervy yet elegant.” To me, the tautness in this description seems like it would match well with the tang of the lemon and mustard in the halibut recipe dressing.

I love finding these wine descriptions that parallel some of the principles of good skiing: highly strung, nervy, elegant…

To read more of the piece about the regionality of Chardonnay that Michelle Cherutti-Kowal contributed to Seth M. Long’s Seler d’or visit http://sethmlong.com/2012/02/20/the-vinous-aesthetics-of-chardonnay-regional-snapshots-an-excerpt/.

Mel