Feeds 4 to 6
Fresh halibut fillets will substitute nicely here if you can’t source the cheeks. (And yes, these are the cheeks of the halibut, which is a very large fish.) This dish was inspired by looking at a battered copy of a well-loved cookbook from The Fiddlehead Café, a hippie café in Juneau, Alaska, where our friend Adrienne ate many times. Alaskans know how to do great things with fresh fish and simple pantry items, since it’s hard to grow much produce there for longer than a couple of months. Adrienne told us she always loved this simple halibut dish. So here’s a bit of the Mediterranean, via Alaska, from our home on Vashon Island in Washington.
Prepare to cook. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
Flour the fish. Season the halibut cheeks with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge each halibut cheek in the flour blend.
Sear the fish. Set a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in 2 tablespoons of the oil. When the oil is hot, put the floured halibut cheeks into the skillet. Cook until the bottom is browned, about 1 minute, then flip and cook the other side, another minute. Remove the halibut cheeks and put them in the baking dish. (You might have to brown the fish in batches.)
Prepare the sauce. Pour the white wine into the skillet, scraping up the goodness from the bottom of the pan and incorporating it into the wine. Let the wine reduce by half its volume, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, garlic, and basil and stir together. Bring the liquid to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper and the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Pour the sauce over the halibut cheeks and toss the kalamata olives on top.
Finish the fish. Cook the fish in the oven until the halibut cheeks flake easily and the sauce is bubbling hot, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately.