Recipe: Pan-roasted halibut from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home

November 11, 10:11 PMLA Cooking ExaminerErika Kerekes

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Unless you've been living under a rock, you know by now that esteemed chef Thomas Keller is opening an outpost of his Bouchon Bistro in Beverly Hills this month. While his flagship French Laundry presents California haute cuisine, the Bouchon menus offer French bistro classics: steak frites, leg of lamb, seafood platters, composed salads, cheese plates.

That's the same kind of food you'll find in Keller's new book, Ad Hoc at Home: Family-Style Recipes, based on the menus he serves at his casual Napa Valley restaurant. This pan-roasted halibut from the book isn't on the Bouchon Beverly Hills menu yet, but it's in the same spirit.

Says Keller of this recipe: "Halibut stands up well to heat and so is good for pan-roasting. It has a beautiful flake, and serving this very white fish with vivid-green pea shoots and yellow chanterelles (see page 206) is visually appealing. Other sides might include Butter-Poached Marble Potatoes (page 223), Asparagus and Tomato-Bacon Stew (page 193), or Buttered Farro (page 219)."

*** PSST: Enter a giveaway for a SIGNED copy of Ad Hoc At Home! Visit In Erika's Kitchen for details and to enter ***

Bouchon Bistro Beverly Hills will be open daily beginning November 18, 2009, serving lunch and dinner 11:30am to 12:30am. They are currently taking reservations at 310-271-9910 and via OpenTable. Ad Hoc at Home is currently selling for $29.25 on Amazon.com.

Pan-roasted halibut from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home

• 2 pounds halibut fillet, cut into 12 rectangular pieces
• Kosher salt
• Canola oil
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Fleur de sel

Remove the fish from the refrigerator and let stand for 15 minutes.

Position oven racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Check the halibut to be sure all bones were removed. Season on both sides with salt. Add some canola oil to two large ovenproof frying pans and heat over high heat until it shimmers. (If you don’t have two pans, cook the fish in batches and transfer to a rack set over a baking sheet, then finish in the oven.) Add 6 pieces of halibut to each pan, presentation (nicer) side down, lower the heat to medium-high, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the bottom of the fish is golden.

Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 2 more minutes. Transfer the pans to the oven and cook for about 2 minutes, until just cooked through.

Remove the pans from the oven, flip the fish over, and “kiss” the second side for about 30 seconds. Transfer to a platter, and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of fleur de sel. Serves 6.