Fresh Halibut

Last night in Portland I did what I usually do when I get stressed out: cook dinner for my friends. I went to a local grocery store and found fresh, never frozen, line-caught halibut fillets on sale for $10 / lb. I decided I wanted to bake it with a sort of provencal medley of sweet onion, carrot, zucchini, leek, and basil. I remember serving halibut on a bed of mixed greens and artichoke / potato mash at Steps Wine Bar and wanted to replicate that. Instead of artichoke, I wanted parsnip. There were no parsnips available "yet" so I grabbed a healthy looking celeriac bulb and some sweet potatoes. The chaotic improvisation set in and I found myself with mashed rosemary sweet potato and a pile of raw shredded celeriac. Now what? Maybe I can fry this... potato pancake? Yes! I mixed it up with some seasoning, a couple eggs and a handful of bread crumbs. The veggies were diced small and sauteed in an iron skillet before being transferred to a glass casserole. I cut the halibut into portions, seasoned it, and seared the pieces skin-down for a couple minutes before placing them on the veggies in the casserole. I put this in a 325 F oven for a slow juicy finish while frying the potato pancakes. I made a fresh aioli with egg yolk, canola, garlic, lemon, and thyme. It was all served on a bed of greens and topped with a "salsa" of ripe yellow heirloom tomato and red pepper. Delicious. We ate at around 10pm, which has been my typical dinner time when I embark on these "projects". It's a really nice way to extend my welcome as a guest when I buy groceries and do some cooking. A part of me really just wants to design a self-sustaining way to travel, cooking wherever I go, and getting food, lodging and gas money in return. If I did this, it would have to be a show, a video blog of sorts. This is an ongoing fantasy, that perhaps, especially if my job-seeking luck is slow, will be realized.