Olive Oil Poached Halibut with Fennel, Rosemary and Garlic

I think this might qualify as the most expensive meal I have ever made.  Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough to make up for the exorbitant price I paid for the meal :(  Oh well.  This was good, just not worth the amount of money I paid to make it.  I found this recipe in Michael Symon's Live To Cook cookbook, and like all his recipes, it was good, flavorful, and everyone enjoyed it.  The boys gave it an 8, and I gave it a 7.  I love halibut, but it's hard to justify the price.  It's hard for me to assign calories per serving on this, since I can never figure out how much of the poaching liquid is used, and how many calories I need to count, but this is my rough estimate--255 for 3 servings.  This may be a little low, but it won't be more than 300 per serving.

1 quart extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 fennel bulb, quartered
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 shallot, quartered
2 T kosher salt
1 T crushed red pepper flakes
4 (I used 3) 3-oz skinless halibut fillets

Combine the olive oil, garlic, fennel, rosemary, shallot, salt, and red pepper flakes in a 2 quart pan and bring the oil to a temperature of 140.  Pull the pan mostly off the heat, maintain that temperature for about 20 minutes.  You want to infuse the oil with the aromatics and red pepper flakes without really cooking them by letting the oil get too hot.
Submerge the halibut in the oil and poach until the fish reaches an internal temperature of 110, 15-20 minutes.  Remove the fillets to paper towels before serving.

Halibut and Green Beans

Tonight we had dinner made by Aaron, and it was fabulous!  Thanks honey!!!  We had Pan-Roasted Halibut Steaks with Anchovy-Garlic Butter with Lemon and Parsley from Cook's Illustrated New Best Recipe Cookbook.  This was a quick and easy dish to make, and had tons of flavor.  Halibut is a treat for us, it's really expensive so we just eat salmon or tilapia usually, but I found these steaks on sale and bought them.  Here's the recipe:

Pan-Roasted Halibut Steaks
2 T olive oil
2 Halibut Steaks
Preheat oven to 425.  Heat the oil in a 12 inche skillet over high heat until the oil just begins to smoke.  Sprinkle both sides of the halibut steaks generously with salt and pepper.  Reduce the heat to medium-high and swirl the oil to coat the pan.  Carefully lay the steaks in the pan and sear, without moving them, until spotty brown, about 4 minutes.  Off the heat, flip the steaks over in the pan.  Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees, and the fish flakes loosen and the fish is opaque, about 9 minutes.  Serve immediately with flavored butter.

Anchovy-Garlic Butter with Lemon and Parsley
4 T unsalted butter, softened
1 anchovy fillet, minced to a paste
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 t lemon juice
2 T minced parsley
1/2 t salt
Beat the butter with a fork until light and fluffy.  Stir in the remaining ingredients until thoroughly combined.  Dollop a portion of the butter over the hot pieces of cooked fish and allow the butter to melt.  Serve immediately.

So this was only 263 calories per serving, including the butter, and this was delicious!  Noah and I gave it a 9, and Owen and Aaron gave it an 8.  It had great flavor, and we really liked it. 
Now on to the green beans.  We used the recipe from the Pioneer Woman for her Green Bean Casserole, and Aaron and I really liked it.  Aaron thought he wouldn't, but it was really good and flavorful.  The boys thought it was a little too spicy, but Aaron and I thought it added interest to the casserole.  Soooo good.  This was 291 for 1/8 of the total, and although it was more complicated and took longer to make, it is definitely worth the time.  I would cook the green beans longer, but other than that I wouldn't change anything about this recipe.  I gave it a 9, Aaron gave it an 8, Owen gave it a 6, and Noah gave it a 5. 

Tomorrow we're having lasagna.