Hobby and the halibut
and a recipe for halibut burgers!
Thank you to everyone who subscribes for your patience with my slower-than-usual postings as I navigate these first months of motherhood. I feel like we’re really in a groove now and I hope to be posting more content regularly!
Hobby is the most fun as we approach 4 months with him. He’s alert, calm and fascinated by it all. I wonder how being raised at sea will shape him? Whether the movement of the boat will assist or hinder his first steps or whether the sounds of the shore will be a lullaby he’ll remember as he navigates adulthood? He’s filling out nicely thanks to his all-you-can-eat supply of cream-top breastmilk and my steady diet of (mostly) nourishing fats and food. Although he is made of approximately fifty percent Rori’s ice cream, I am certain of this.
I’ve been spending my days cooking for us all and getting my Etsy business back up and swinging. I managed to launch 4 new stickers which I chipped away at during Hobby’s naps and am feeling very proud to be accomplishing these small feats while engaged in the full-time work of parenthood. I never got the swing of “nap when baby naps,” there was just always other things to take care of.
Trevor just got back from a fill-the-freezer fishing trip where he and his father caught 4 huge halibut! We love halibut for its meatiness and versatility and are already dreaming up new ways we can eat it this summer. He also hooked some rockfish (Vermillion, Copper and Lingcod) which make wonderful fish and chips, so we were pretty happy about that. I can’t wait to make Rock fish Bahjis again, they are the perfect delight to dip into my Peach Chutney.
We spent the afternoon filleting and vacuum sealing everything, and it was definitely challenging with Hobby on my hip. I took advantage of his naps and ran warp speed around the boat trying to get as much done as possible. I also made a cauldron of apricot and vanilla jam using some fruit from Trevor’s mum’s trees so I definitely had my hands full and mind well and truly engaged. We packaged the halibut up in neat 2-portion packs and ended up with a generous pile of tail trim. We’ve been wanting to make a fish burger for a while now and I decided the trim would just right for the job.
I ground the trim up with some simple seasoning, egg, mayonnaise and breadcrumbs. I kept the seasonings traditional as I like it when the fish flavour really stands out. More often than not it seems that chefs throw the entire spice cupboard at fish and it all ends up tasting the same. I shaped the patties, chilled them and then egged and breaded them before frying in lard. We served the burgers in a brioche bun with lashings of homemade tartar sauce and shredded lettuce on the 4th of July. They were really delicious! We will try them with rockfish next and I will report back.
Halibut Burgers
Makes 8 (easily halved!)
You will need;
2lb of halibut trim
4 tbsp mayonaise
2 eggs
1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (+ more for coating)
Juice of a lemon
1 tsp of lemon zest
2 tbsp of fresh dill
2 tbsp fresh parsley
Salt and pepper
Optional add-ins: Capers, fresh green onion, fresh chili
1 egg
Lard for frying
Tartar sauce for serving
Buns
Lettuce/tomato/avocado/pickles
How to:
Remove as much of the sinew from the tail pieces the fish. This will look like long white lines in the semi-opaque tail meat. I use a knife to scrape it off. It’s not a bit deal if there is some left as I find that the blender blades actually capture a lot of it.
Put the trim in a food processor and pulse until mostly smooth. I did this in batches and would need to stop it periodically to remove the very tough stringy sinew from the blades. Throw the sinew away! Empty the fish into a large bowl and add the rest of the burger ingredients. Use your hands to combine it well and then shape into 4” patties (about 1/2” thick). Lay them on parchment on a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least an hour but up to a day. When it’s time to cook them, remove them from the fridge, dip them in a beaten egg and then the breadcrumbs and shallow fry until golden brown. Serve in a toasted bun with a metric ton of tartar sauce and your other favourite burger accompaniments.
These look so epic! Do you have a basic tartar sauce recipe you use?