Cajun halibut with praline sauce over dirty rice is the best dish my husband has made in a long time, it's the best thing I've eaten in a long time, it's so packed with flavor my mind is going to explode. And I give full credit to Jesse for finding this recipe when I simply suggested that we have halibut one night for dinner, I don't know where he found it, so I can't give credit, but no one reads this anyway, and we've changed it up a bit. Tonight we actually used black cod instead of halibut because Whole Foods was sold out, and it was just as good, the only difference being it was slightly lighter than the halibut was, but it cooked in the same amount of time, had almost the same consistency, and retained the flavor just the same...so I say if you don't want to spend the $25 per pound you would with halibut, black cod is just as good, for about half the price...just make sure you get the skin removed, unless you have a very sharp knife at home.
INGREDIENTS
for the dirty rice:
1 link italian sausage, casing removed
1 tbsp. olive oil
light dash of onion powder
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper (I think we use more)
light dash of garlic powder
3/4 cup long grain white rice (Jasmine rice)
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
salt and cayenne pepper, to taste
for the praline sauce:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2/3 cup sugar (we found it to be really sugary the first time, so we substituted maple syrup, about 1 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup water
4 tbsp butter (we use salted)
1 1/2 ounce (one shot) whiskey
for the fish:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. smoked paprika (we used regular, not smoked)
2 tbsp. fresh thyme
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. black pepper
4 halibut filets (about 6 oz. each)...we actually just share an 8oz fillet between the two of us and it's plenty...I rub it with the same amount of sauce, though, as listed above.
DIRECTIONS
1. preheat grill to medium-high
2. To make the dirty rice, crumble the sausage into a skillet or large saucepan over medium-high heat. cook until starting to brown, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the olive oil, onion powder, bell pepper and garlic powder. Cook until just softened, 2-3 minutes more. Stir in the rice and cook for 1 minute. Mix in the broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper. Fluff with a fork and serve.
*If your'e making this in the rice cooker, which we do, cook the sausage, bell pepper, garlic and onion as above, adding in a little bit of broth. Then add the rice to the rice cooker and as much chicken broth as you normally would (1 to 1 1/2 ratio), as well as the mixture from the skillet and the salt and cayenne pepper...press cook and voila! You've got rice.
3. While the rice is cooking, make the praline sauce. Toast the pecans in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant, 3-4 minutes. Add in salt, cook 1-2 minutes more, remove from heat and whisk in the butter, whiskey and maple syrup until smooth. The sauce may thicken upon standing and can be rewarmed over low heat.
4. To prepare the fish, combine the oil, paprika, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper into a bowl and whisk to blend. Pat the mixture over both sides of the fish.
5. Oil the grates of the gill. Grill until the fish is cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. Serve over dirty rice and topped with warm praline sauce.
This recipe seems complicated and time consuming, but it's not really, and it's worth it anyway. We've also found that the dirty rice (and everything else) is delicious cold the next day, we've started to make the rice in the morning and fry up an egg to throw on top for breakfast, then we keep the rice in the fridge and eat it all day long as a snack or for lunch or whenever the mood strikes. So you can make the rice ahead of time then just heat it up when the fish and praline sauce are ready, saving yourself a lot of time in the kitchen.
