A few months ago I was working in Santa Monica and ate at a restaurant by the pier. They had crispy Alaskan halibut tail on the menu. Of course aka
halibut howie had to try that out. It was served on a BIG plate and must have been from over a 50 pounder. Well a couple of days ago I snagged a 35
lb Californian halibut while fishing for lingcod. So I tried to replicate the same recipe but used the head as well.
1. Use hacksaw to cut head and tail off halibut leaving 3-4 inches of body meat on both ends. Clean and descale.
2. Rub with oil and apply a thick Blackened Spice mix on both side.
3. Stuff head with a crab meat stuffing. I used blue claw crab similar to the brown's of baja.
4. BBQ or smoke at 450 degrees turning once. I used 3 spatulas to turn the giant head.
5. Serve on a large platter and pass the California Basting Sauce (CBS)
* 3/4 cup melted butter
* 2 cloves minced garlic
* 2 tbs soya
* 1/4 cup lemon juice
* 1/4 cup brandy
The cheeks and collar meat is to die for. And to think for 40 years I threw these parts away.
Udo - 6-28-2016 at 07:11 AM
I love Alaskan halibut, Dennis.
I have a very large cage for BBQ fish that i'll use, and this is an inspirational recipe.woody with a view - 6-28-2016 at 07:19 PM
i need one of those cages.BornFisher - 6-28-2016 at 08:31 PM
Howie--- Looks delicious!!
And so much bad joke material here it`s hard to resist!!
Congrats on the catch and the cooking!!wessongroup - 6-28-2016 at 08:43 PM
Woody, this unit has about as many pluses as minuses. It's a REC TEC Pellet Smoker capable of temps between 185-500 degrees or so. I've cooked on both
extremes using many flavored types of Traegar wood pellets. http://www.rectecgrills.com/?gclid=CIjP3sfXzc0CFVFcfgodtOQOB...
I cook often for between 30-50 people at a time so sleeping through the night, no fussing with the coals, and large grill area is why I purchases this
as my 1st pellet smoker. I made a mistake and gave my Weber Smoky Mountain away. It had much better smoke flavor but was a pain in the ass to
maintain for 16 hours.
Pros
* set it and forget it.
* uses 1 lb/hour = $1/hour at low temps
* can smoke 2-3 pork butts and one 16 lb Packard brisket at once. You could even weave ribs in the gaps.
*well made with quality hardware, powder coated
Cons
* very little smoke flavor
*acts more like a large OUTDOOR convection oven than a wood smoker
* slow smoked meat appears to dry out due to a constant air blower to keep the wood pellets burning.
Consequently, I now smoke ribs at 350 degrees (instead of 225-250 degrees) for 1 hour, then wrap in alum foil and back on the smoker for another hour.
Then unwrap, and back on the grill until done. 45-90 minutes depending on rib type. Sauce at this point for that caramelized look and taste. I like
it unsauced, Memphis style, "Naked". Sprinkling more Memphis rub on the ribs or beef once done.
