Budget bender - Halibut $$$

Oh so spendy, but oh so good.  Halibut has been just about my all time favorite seafood since I was a kid.  Tonight's recipe was one of my favorite meals growing up.  We didn't get it too often, but since my dad often worked on fishing boats as an electical and radar technician, we would occasionally be gifted with fresh seafood.  I remember one large bag of halibut cheeks...  Oooooooo...  That was a treat.  Lots of crab and clams too.  Sometimes even pounds of picked crab.  Wow.  That's a lot of work.  Dad was very good at his job.  We even got some shark once.  (Well to be honest, that was the rubberiest fish I've ever had and I doubt I'll ever eat it again.)  ☺  So anyway, today when I saw a huge wild Alaskan halibut in the seafood case at the grocery store, I couldn't resist getting a large fillet.  I haven't had this dish in so long...  Oh, I tried out Tillamook's new Natural Sour Cream for this; the ingredients are simply cultured milk, cream and enzymes.  That's it.  And it is amazing.  It has such a wonderful clean, rich, tangy flavor to it.  I'd say it's probably as close as you can get to making it yourself.  Now believe you me, when I find a wonderful real food product like this or a product where they have removed the high fructose corn syrup in favor of real sugar, I very quickly write to the company and tell them how pleased I am and that I will be promoting and buying more products like that.  The whole reason they come out with things like this is because of customer feedback and demand.  So I urge you to create the demand, it really does make a difference eventually.  And try that sour cream, soooo yummy!  Here's the recipe to get you started:

Halibut with Dill Pickle Sauce

Serves 6-8

2 lbs halibut fillets, 1"

2 c. sour cream (be sure to get natural if corn is an issue - regular has corn starch)

5 Tbsp chopped green onion (fresh out of the garden! super yum - I went a bit wild with them)

5 Tbsp chopped green pepper (I used orange because that's what I had)

4 Tbsp chopped dill pickle

2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

2 Tbsp lemon juice

½ tsp dry mustard

½ tsp basil

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Arrange fillets in 8x12" pan.  (I used a 9x13" and gave it a quick spray of oil for insurance - whatever works.)  Mix sour cream, green onion, bell pepper, dill pickle and spices;

pour sauce over fish.

Bake in a moderate oven (350º F) for 30 minutes, or until fish flakes with a fork.

I think this recipe came from an old Sunset cookbook of my mom's.  I love it.  It turns out moist with this fabulously tangy, tartar-like sauce baked on top.  (I was very big on tartar sauce for my fish when I was a kid.)  It also holds pretty well without drying out since that moist sauce keeps all the juices nicely contained in the fish.  The girls both liked this, although R had to scrape the bits of sauce off the top, she has never been a big sauce or condiment girl.  Poor kid.  Steph decided after two bites that it was definitely something she liked.  And while the hubby always likes salmon best, he willingly devoured this one as well.  You can chop the veggies as fine as you like to tailor the texture of the sauce to your liking.  I also let the sauce sit for about 10 minutes to let the flavors blend before pouring it over the fish and baking.  And since the fillet I had was so thick, I baked it 45 minutes.  I recall my mother just baking one large square and cutting it up to serve.  As you like it, either way works.  Enjoy!