Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli Served With Halibut For French Fridays With Dorie

Spring has sprung in my garden, it's now official as the big oak tree behind our house has leafed out.  We added soil to our garden plot and are planting vegetables and herbs this weekend.  Just for fun I'm adding a few sunflowers to go along with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, scallions, zucchini, tomatillos,sweet basil and the list goes on.  I bought the broccoli and Alaskan halibut for my dinner at Whole Foods which is expensive but really offers so much more than the average grocery store shopping experience.  Walking from the vegetables to the the fish counter I noticed the coolest looking large size seed packets with the most beautiful colorful drawings on the front.  As I was checking them out and daydreaming about Summer the door to the patio opened, a cool wind blew in over me bringing me back to reality, brrrr, we're not quite there yet.  But I think planning for the garden is at least half the fun.

The broccoli looked good all stacked up and nestled into a beautiful display of vegetables.  I grabbed a large bunch for my French Fridays With Dorie recipe and  finally made it over to the fish counter, so many distractions on the way, like the carrot cake cupcakes in the bakery display which somehow found their way into my basket.  I should have taken a picture of the cupcakes, they were so cute with a tiny carrot made out of icing on top of a small mound of piped cream cheese icing.  Okay that was a decadent treat but I was good later, I did have halibut with broccoli for dinner.  

This week's recipe from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan is another keeper and could be easily worked into a dinner menu on a regular basis.  This week I served the garlicky crumb-coated broccoli with halibut and a green olive, almond, preserved lime relish.  I'm not allowed to give you the recipe for the broccoli, you'll have to buy the book.  But this week as a special bonus to my readers I'm giving you my relish recipe for the halibut.  I'm feeling so generous today, I'm also going to include the link to all the other contributing Doristas here and my recipe for the  Preserved Key Limes with Jalapeno Peppers that go into my relish for the halibut.

The garlicky crumb-coated broccoli is a simple and delicious way to prepare fresh broccoli.  Dorie suggests serving it with an omelet but I immediately thought of it with halibut and a flavorful relish.

Ingredients and Directions For Picholine Olive, Almond and Preserved Lime Relish

Makes about 1 cup

1/3 cup chopped Picholine olives
1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds
1 small minced garlic clove
1 preserved Key lime, skin only, finely chopped, equivalent to half a preserved lemon
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, cilantro and mint
1 Meyer lemon, juiced and zested
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon champagne vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients except lemon juice and olive oil  in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times.  Add the lemon juice and olive oil while continuing to pulse until a thick paste is formed.  Set aside to rest.  This relish is best served at room temperature with the halibut.

I prepared the halibut by removing the skin from the fillets, using a paper towel to dry them off, covering with sea salt, pepper and a very slight sprinkling of sugar, to help with achieving a quick browning.  I used a lightly oiled hot frying pan, for a quick sear, about 1-2 minutes on one side, flipped over the fillets and finished up in a hot, 425 degree oven for about 7-9 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fillets.  I find this cooking method for fish fillets to be an easy foolproof way to prepare them quickly without overcooking and drying them out.  I  actually cut back on the butter in the broccoli recipe, imagine that, and it was still absolutely delicious with the garlicky bread crumbs.

Next Friday is Vanilla Eclairs, so as I leave you with this final photo of my healthy dinner I hope you will be enticed to return for the eclairs next week.