Halibut Cheeks Ed's Style

"Oh my god, this is the best fish I ever put in my mouth!"

"Do people know about halibut cheeks?!?!"

"I'm glad we're eating this at home. I'd get kicked out of a restaurant for making obscene noises!"

                        —Ann Chiappetta

I didn't realize when I bought a pound of halibut cheeks at the fish market that Ann had never had them before. It is so hard to remember what we've eaten together versus what I cooked for guests at the restaurant. Still, I am surprised that she was never at the restaurant on a night when I had halibut cheeks on a tasting menu. I would surely have sent one to her table.

To answer her question: yes, seafood connoisseurs know about halibut cheeks, while thankfully, much of the dining public thinks that they are gross, because of the name cheeks. Just as veal cheeks are the best morsel on the young steer, halibut cheeks are the best morsel on the fish that is among the best of all fish. I say thankfully, because they are a rare item and the fewer people that will eat them, the more there are for the rest of us.

Because of the negative reaction to the name cheeks and to forestall objections to them and other delicacies such as sweetbreads or headcheese, I never published menus in advance for the tasting menus and the servers always told diners what the course was, after they finished it. Sad, but true.

Halibut Cheeks Ed's Style

Halibut cheeks are so divinely good, sweet, and tender that they do not need elaborate dishes built around them. Simplicity is best when it comes to them, and a lot of other food items as well. This week, I served the cheeks in a style that came to be known over the years as Ed's Style. Not only is it a signature of my cooking, but the moniker gives people an easy handle by which to order a dish.

Imagine the difficulty a diner might have with the following mouthful, "I'll have the halibut with tomatoes, artichokes, basil, caramelized garlic, and white wine." So much easier to say "Halibut Ed's Style." Of course, the diner could always save everyone time and order the "halibut." The ticket, when it hits the kitchen, is going to say just that: halibut. But, I digress.

Basil, Essential to Ed's Style

When I brought the cheeks home, I had no idea how I was going to prepare them. No idea, that is, until I saw this big bunch of basil in a vase on the counter. Immediately my mind leapt to Ed's Style, so critical to and entwined with this dish is fresh basil.

Halibut Cheeks, Roughly Two Ounces Each

When halibut cheeks came in to the restaurant from our supplier in Seward on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, they would be of all different sizes from an ounce and a half to eight ounces, depending on the size of fish from which they came. When cooking an order of cheeks, it is important that they all be of the same size so that they cook in all roughly the same amount of time. I asked the fish merchant to select eight of the same size for me.

It was always a task to separate the cheeks into consistently-sized orders and then on the line, if two or more orders were going to the same table, it would be up to the fish cook to select orders of more or less the same size so that everyone's plate looked the same. It is an epic fail to send an order of four 2-ounce pieces and another of two 4-ounce pieces to the same table. Invariably, the person with two pieces is going to complain (or write a highly negative review) that he or she got shorted. Yet again, I digress.

Lightly Dusted with Wondra

I like to lightly dust the halibut cheeks with salt, pepper, and Wondra, a granulated pregelatinized flour available in most grocery stores. Although it is marketed principally for thickening sauces (because it is pregelatinized, it will not clump), Wondra has found another market in professional kitchens. Chefs have adopted it en masse for the delightfully thin, crisp, and barely there crust that it gives. I put it on the halibut cheeks to keep them from sticking to the bottom of my stainless steel-lined skillet.

If you do not have Wondra in your pantry, put it on your shopping list today. You will also say, "Thank you General Mills!"

Seared on One Side, Cooking on the Other

Cook the cheeks in a skillet until they brown well on the bottom side. You'll see the flesh turn from pink and transparent to white and opaque around the edges as the bottom cooks. I flip the cheeks when I can see the white edge all the way around the cheek. Finish up the cooking another couple of minutes and then remove the cheeks and keep warm while you make the sauce. The sauce recipe is at the end of this post.

Caramelized Garlic and Red Pepper Flakes

Film the pan with a bit of olive oil, then add the garlic. I have added three cloves that are minced along with a pinch of red pepper flakes. For this dish, it is imperative to caramelize the garlic to the point that you see in the photo above. Although Julia Child would scold that you were going to "burn the garlic," it will be just fine. Trust me, I've made this dish thousands of times.

Ed's Sauce After Adding All Ingredients

Once the garlic becomes caramelized, stop the cooking by adding two ounces of dry white wine to the pan. Then add quickly two tablespoons of brined capers along with a bit of the brine, a cup and a half each of diced tomatoes and cooked quartered artichoke hearts. Finish by adding a handful of chiffonaded fresh basil.

Rewarming the Halibut Cheeks

Let the sauce cook for a couple of minutes to reduce the extra liquid, then place the halibut cheeks back on top to warm through. Remove the cheeks as the sauce becomes almost dry. Although my line cooks were always tempted to add a pat of butter to finish the sauce (and I am sure they tried when I wasn't looking), I do not see a need for butter in an Italian-inspired sauce that is nothing but a modified puttanesca sauce.

Plate however you see fit. With cheeks, I like to plate them on the sauce. With larger fillets of fish, I often would drape the sauce over the fish. 

Ed's Sauce

This quantity of sauce is perfect for garnishing two entrées or two plates of pasta.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 pinch pepperoncini (red pepper flakes)

2 ounces dry white wine

2 tablespoons pickled capers with a bit of brine

1-1/2 cups diced, peeled, and seeded tomatoes

1-1/2 cups cooked artichoke heart quarters (one 15-ounce can, drained)

1/2 cup fresh basil en chiffonade (leaves rolled and thinly sliced)

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the garlic and red pepper flakes.

When the garlic is caramelized and just at the point of overcooking, quickly add the white wine to stop the cooking, followed by the rest of the ingredients.

Cook over high flame until the sauce is as wet or as dry as you like. Season to taste, though additional salt is usually not necessary because of the capers.