Pan Fried Halibut with Lemon Cream Sauce

We don't eat fish that often because even though we live in a Mediterranean country where fish should be abundant, it is really, really expensive. So, while fish is a staple in many American homes, here it is a luxury item for us, hence why I chose to make it as a treat for our anniversary dinner. I am normally totally sketched out by the frozen fish in the supermarket-the skin is usually on, sometimes the fish has a color that is just unnatural for anything that isn't a piece of lego and not that I understand everything that it says on the package but I do understand when it says that it's only 80% fish. When I first read that I was really freaked out- what the heck is the other 20%??? Goat? I soon realized it means that a lot of the fish is processed with water and what you are getting is 20% water. Me no likey. But while I was browsing in the fish aisle one day I came across packaged frozen halibut that just looked beautiful- pure white, no skin, no bones and no chance of goat. It was definitely pricey but looked like it was worth a try. It also looked very different than the Halibut I've seen in America which is usually thick fillets. This was a thin, flat piece of fish that resembled Sole. Boy, was I right. It was so tender and clean tasting, just absolutely delicious, and so I came up with this recipe to use it for our special dinner. The fish here is just lightly pan fried without too much seasoning in order to let the sauce shine.


2 Halibut fillets
1/2 cup of flour
salt, pepper, garlic powder
3 Tbl oil

Rinse the fillets and pat they dry. Mix the flour with the seasonings and dredge the fillets. Pan fry them until they are light golden brown. Serve with the lemon cream sauce.

Lemon Cream Sauce:
3 tbl fresh lemon juuce

1/4 tsp lemon zest 

4 tbl butter

1 tsp minced garlic

4 tablespoons cream

1 tbl chopped parsley

salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the garlic. Saute for a minute and add the lemon juice and zest. Cook for a minute and reduce the heat to low. Add the cream, salt and pepper and cook until it gets just slightly thick. Remove from heat and add chopped parsley.