Pan Seared Halibut with mushroom broth and Lemon Risotto

This was our dinner a few nights back, it was to die for!

Ingredients

1 pound of halibut, cut into 2 fillets
Salt and pepper
Olive Oil
1 shallot
1 garlic clove
1 box of dried porcini mushrooms
4 tbs of unsalted butter
3/4 of a cup of risotto rice
4 cups of free range chicken broth
1 medium white onion
1 lemon, juice and 1 teaspoon of the zest
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream

Preparation

With a paper napkin pad dry the halibut fillets, sprinkle salt and pepper making sure you cover the whole fillet and drizzle olive oil over them, set aside, you can prep the fish a couple of hours in advance and leave them in the refrigerator.

Boil 1/2 cup of water and put the dehydrated mushrooms to soak in a covered container for at least 15 minutes, until the water turns brown and the mushrooms are soft, set aside.

30 minutes before cooking the fish add a couple of table spoons of the mushroom infusion on top of the halibut fillets.

In a medium size frying pan add the butter, chopped the garlic clove and the shallot into little squares and saute them over medium heat. When the shallots are clear add the halibut fillets with the meat side facing the pan and brown that side, should take around 4 - 5 minutes, turn them when you can see the meat getting a light brown coloration. Flip the fillets and add half of the broth into the frying pan, keep cooking for another 5 minutes. Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees, in a small baking sheet put the cooked fillets cover them with the remaining mushroom broth and bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Meanwhile use the same frying pan with the remaining shallots and garlic to saute the mushrooms; dice them, season them with salt and pepper, and add another 2 tbs of butter (4 - 5 minutes).

Remove the halibut fillets from the oven and let them sit for a couple of minutes so the juices would settle, they are ready to be served, use the mushrooms and shallots to create a nice topping for the fish.

Chop the onion in small cubes, in a medium size sauce pan using medium heat put some olive oil and the chopped onion and cook for 4 minutes approximately, until the onions turn clear. Add the risotto rice and mix, add 1 cup of chicken broth, lower the heat to medium.

Stir occasionally, not letting the rice get stuck in the bottom of the pan, you will notice the chicken broth gets absorbed by the rice, keep adding some more broth and keep stirring for approximately 15 - 20 minutes, adding broth whenever the rice seems to be drying up. The rice should puff up, when you notice there is a tiny white dot in the middle of the rice grains add the whipping cream and cook for another 5 minutes. Take off the heat, add the lemon juice and zest and stir.

Note: You don't have to use all the chicken broth. Also keep in mind that the risotto rice keeps cooking after being taken off the heat, so you want to take it out when it has a little crisp when you bite it.

Just delicious!