Name: Pacific Halibut Cheeks with Brown Butter, Olives and Sage
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2 to 3 servings
Ingredients: 1 (12 oz.) pack Pacific Halibut Cheeks; 1 cup vegetable broth; 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, divided; High heat cooking oil (grapeseed, canola, or vegetable); Salt and freshly ground black pepper; Rice flour or all-purpose flour; 10 to 12 sage leaves; ¼ cup Castelvetrano olives, pitted and sliced; 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Better Than Going Out to Dinner

This recipe for pan-fried Pacific halibut cheeks is served with a decadent brown butter sauce, punctuated with earthy, fried sage leaves and mild green Castelvetrano olives. The brown butter sauce is a rich topping for lean, wild-caught white fish — a sauce that you can make over and over again to finish any recipe.

Pan-frying is a great way to cook Pacific halibut cheeks, as this method allows you to control the doneness of each piece since there’s so much variation in size. It’s easy to remove smaller pieces from the pan as soon as they’re done cooking, while leaving the bigger pieces to finish.

Chef’s note: Emulsified sauces can break — the water-based element of the sauce can separate from the fat, the same way that salad dressings eventually separate into oil and vinegar. A “broken” sauce tastes just as good as one that’s emulsified, but it won’t have that smooth, spoonable consistency.

You can enjoy it as is, or re-emulsify it like this:

In a small saucepan, bring ¼ cup water to a boil, then remove from heat.
Slowly drizzle broken sauce into the water, making sure to whisk continuously. Put the saucepan back on heat source from time to time to keep it just below a simmer. Continue to whisk until it emulsifies into a smooth sauce again.

About Chef George Pramatarov:

George Pramatarov is a chef based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Over the past decade, he has worked at several award-winning restaurants including St. Genevieve, Hai Hai, Grand Cafe, and Petite Leon—recently included in New York Times's 50 Favorite Restaurants of 2022. Born and raised in Bulgaria, George moved to the United States at age 14 and is equally influenced by Bulgarian, French, and American cuisine. Through cooking food and creating recipes, he is continually revisiting the feeling of home. When not cooking, George unwinds with his partner, Sara, and their crazy Beagle at the family lakeside cabin in Wisconsin.

Print Recipe

Pacific Halibut Cheeks with Brown Butter, Olives and Sage

By Wild Alaskan Company

Prep time

10 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Total time

40 minutes

Yield

2 to 3 servings

Ingredients

1 (12 oz.) pack Pacific Halibut Cheeks
1 cup vegetable broth
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, divided
High heat cooking oil (grapeseed, canola, or vegetable)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Rice flour or all-purpose flour
10 to 12 sage leaves
¼ cup Castelvetrano olives, pitted and sliced
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan, bring vegetable broth to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until reduced to ¼ cup, about 15-20 min.

2. Meanwhile, place 8 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan. Cook butter over medium-high heat, gently shaking the pan for even cooking, until it begins to foam and start to pick up color. Add sage leaves and continue to shake pan until bubbling subsides and the sage becomes crisp, about 3 minutes. Butter should be browned.

3. Remove brown butter saucepan from heat. Spoon out sage and drain leaves on a paper towel or brown paper bag.

4. Off the heat, carefully add lemon juice to brown butter to stop the cooking. Brown butter may foam and pop.

5. Bring broth back to a boil. While whisking broth, slowly start to drizzle brown butter into it. After about 15 sec, pull broth off the heat and gradually drizzle remaining brown butter into broth until it has emulsified into a smooth sauce.

6. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and whisk until incorporated. Stir in olives and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm near the heat.

7. Pat halibut cheeks dry using a clean tea towel or paper towel. Then season both sides with salt and pepper. Dust lightly with flour to prevent sticking.

8. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. When skillet is hot, add just enough oil to cover bottom of pan. Once oil is shimmering (sizzling hot), add halibut cheeks to skillet. Sear undisturbed until edges of cheeks begin to curl and fish releases easily from skillet with help of a fish spatula, about 2 min. Flip cheeks to just cook other side, about 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on size. Halibut is medium-rare when it registers 120F at the thickest part on an instant-read thermometer, or when the cheek is slightly firm to the touch.

9. Transfer halibut cheeks to a plate lined with paper bag or paper towel to absorb excess oil, then arrange on serving plates and spoon over warm sauce for serving. Garnish with fried sage and enjoy immediately.

Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of food-borne illness, especially if you have a certain medical condition. The FDA recommends an internal temperature of 145°F for cooked fish.

Pacific Halibut Cheeks with Brown Butter, Olives and Sage

Better Than Going Out to Dinner

Pacific Halibut Cheeks with Brown Butter, Olives and Sage

You May Also Like