Poached Halibut with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

This recipe uses court-bouillon, a flavorful broth often employed to poach fish and seafood. You can prepare the broth up to three days ahead, strain it, and reheat just before cooking the fish. Reheat the vegetable mixture by cooking it in the broth for a minute or two just before serving.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 3  cups  chopped leek
• 2  cups  water
• 1  cup  chopped carrot
• 1  cup  chopped celery
• 1  cup  white wine
• 1  cup  low-sodium, fat-free chicken broth
• 6  garlic cloves, peeled
• 1  bay leaf
• 4  (6-ounce) halibut fillets, skinned
• 2  slices center-cut bacon
• 3  tablespoons  finely chopped shallots
• 3  tablespoons  red wine vinegar, divided
• 2  teaspoons  Dijon mustard
• 2  teaspoons  maple syrup
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  extravirgin olive oil
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 4  (1/2-ounce) slices French bread, toasted
• Parsley sprigs (optional)

Preparation

1. Combine first 8 ingredients in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes. Strain mixture through a colander over a bowl, reserving broth and vegetable mixture. Return broth to pan; bring to a simmer. Add fish to pan. Cook 8 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Remove fish from cooking liquid using a slotted spoon; reserve 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cooking liquid. Discard remaining cooking liquid.

2. Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; crumble. Add shallots to drippings in pan; sauté 1 minute or until tender, stirring constantly. Stir in 2 tablespoons vinegar and mustard; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Stir in 2 tablespoons reserved cooking liquid, remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar, syrup, oil, salt, and pepper; cook 30 seconds, stirring occasionally. Stir in bacon.

3. Place about 3/4 cup vegetable mixture in each of 4 shallow bowls; top each with 1/4 cup remaining cooking liquid. Place 1 bread slice and 1 fish fillet in each serving. Drizzle each serving with about 1 tablespoon bacon mixture. Garnish with parsley sprigs, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

387 (27% from fat)

Fat:

11.5g (sat 2.7g,mono 4.9g,poly 2.4g)

Protein:

41.3g

Carbohydrate:

28.4g

Fiber:

3.4g

Cholesterol:

62mg

Iron:

4.2mg

Sodium:

631mg

Calcium:

171mg