Steamed Halibut with Carrots and Cumin Sauce

from Gérald Hirigoyen in Cooking for Heart & Soul cookbook:  

100 delicious low-fat recipes from San Francisco’s top chefs a cookbook to benefit the San Francisco food bank 

submitted by Katy Lonergan 

serves 4 

 

2 medium size carrots, sliced as thin as possible 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

3 medium sized carrots, diced 

½ medium sized yellow onion, chopped 

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 

juice of one lemon 

juice of one lime 

3 cups water 

½ teaspoon cumin seeds  

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives 

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 

4 halibut fillets (4 ounces each) 

 

In a saucepan of boiling water, blanch sliced carrots over medium heat for two minutes. Drain then plunge into a bowl of ice water. Drain again and set aside. 

 

Heat the olive oil in a medium size skillet over medium heat. Add the diced carrots, onion, and garlic. Cook until caramelized, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the lemon and lime juice and cook for one minute more. Pour in the water and add the cumin seeds. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 

 

Let the mixture cool a bit, then transfer to a blender and purée at high speed for two minutes. Return blended sauce* to the saucepan, add the blanched, sliced carrots, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for three minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the chives and parsley, set aside. 

 

Season halibut fillets with salt and pepper, place them in a steamer, and steam over boiling water until the fish is just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. To serve, divide the carrot cumin sauce among four plates and put the steamed fish on top. 

 

* Note: I recently made this classic for Anne and Wells only to learn it was a recipe Anne used to frequently make. I made a few adjustments since I seemed to have over-cooked the sauce causing it to become exceedingly acidic, particularly noticeable when I was puréeing the carrot mixture. In thinking of the Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat documentary, to the puréed mixture, I added melted butter (approximately ⅓ stick salted), extra-virgin olive oil (approx. 1 tablespoon), baking soda (several generous sprinkles), cayenne pepper (approximately ⅛ teaspoon), and ground cumin (¼ – ½ teaspoon). Taste and adjust accordingly.