Hazelnut Crusted Halibut with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I have minor criticisms of this recipe and made minor changes - nevertheless it is a wonderful dish Hubs and I both enjoyed. The potatoes are perfect just as written. The recipe doesn't specify, but for color and interest I didn't peel them and added chopped fresh parsley at the end. Don't be tempted to just boil the garlic along with the potatoes - you'll lose a lot of flavor! I used the ground hazelnuts on half the filets, ground almonds on the other and Hubs and I agree the almonds were the clear winner. I love hazelnuts but in our view they're too sweet to coat fish with. I made my own fresh bread crumbs, seasoning them lightly with an Italian seasoning blend. I used grouper filets and brushed them with olive oil before coating them on both sides with the nut/bread crumb mixture. Because my filets were thin I didn't bother to finish cooking them in the oven - a few minutes in the skillet on both sides cooked them perfectly. The browned butter was a nice touch, but we agreed we could have done without it. I don't think it makes that much a difference in taste and all that extra butter just wasn't necessary. Omitting it would not diminish the dish and would save a lot of calories as well as an extra step in the preparation. I served this with fresh asparagus which was the perfect complement and made for a beautiful presentation.

I never had halibut before and it was delicious with this recipe. I had bought frozen halibut from Costco and defrosted it in the refrigerator over night. I did almost exactly what the recipe says except I used only about 4 tablespoons of butter and for the broth I dissolved a knorr's vegetable bullion cube and used about 4 tablespoons of that. I wish I had used more broth, it was very tasty with the browned butter. The recipe calls for 2 halibut steaks, I made 3, so I thought I would need to increase the nut/bread crumbs so I made 1/3 cup of each, it was way too much, the regular recipe is enough for at least 4 steaks. Overall it was an excellent dinner; and it was so easy and quick to make. I will definitely make it again.

This review was based on the fish only, as I didn't make the potatoes as directed. I also omitted the browned butter, as I felt it wasn't really necessary. That being said, this fish recipe was excellent. I made this for hub's birthday after he came home with 30 lbs of halibut from an Alaskan fishing trip. I ended up cooking the fish in the pan completely rather than finishing in the oven - this is partly b/c I don't have an oven-safe skillet, but also b/c I didn't feel it necessary. I served with another garlic mash recipe from this site, steamed asparagus, and the beet salad from this site. We both LOVED it. NOTE: The recipe as written will leave you with a lot of extra bread crumb/nut topping. I kept the leftovers in ziplock bag and made this again a week later with following variations: preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray (easy cleanup). After rinsing filets, pat dry and sprinkle w/ salt. Lightly dredge in flour, then dip filets in milk, then pat into nut mixture. Place nut side up on cookie sheet and place a pat of butter on top of each filet. Bake for 8-15 mins, depending on thickness (ours took about 15 mins, as they are close to an inch thick). This version turned out excellent too, but was a little easier. I still had left over topping and used again for chicken (in the oven) - yum!!! Overall - fantastic recipe that will become a staple in our house!