Halibut and Spicy Yogurt Sauce

Since I've started blogging regularly again the past couple of months, though with little increase in readers, I began thinking about why I started blogging in the first place. Honestly, it wasn't for the food blogging community (that was an added bonus!); it began purely as a way for me to keep track of the food I was making--kind of a 21st-century collection of recipe index cards. See, I was living in Paris and, for the first time, solely responsible for what I (and, usually, the Boy) were eating. This meant not only was I cooking regularly, but I was also encountering new ingredients and preparations every day. Not to mention that I was learning about meal planning and attempting to keep us healthy at the same time. So it came as a pleasant surprise that I was creating so many delicious recipes. And, late one night while the Boy was with his family in China, I wrote my very first post. Believe it or not, that was over 4 years ago!
All of this is to say that, now I've re-entered the blogging world, I've noticed a significant in my cooking and my comfort in the kitchen, developing and adapting recipes. So, reviewing some of my earliest posts while deciding what to make for dinner tonight, I stumbled upon my third post: filet de mulet et sauce piquante de yaourt. I decided to tweak it and remake it (adding some fronds from my leftover fennel) and was thrilled by how well it came out. Served alongside a leafy green salad for two, this was a light and easy summer meal. Enjoy!
Halibut and Spicy Yogurt Sauce
Halibut:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• fennel leaves from 2 sprigs
• 1 pound halibut, filleted
• dash kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fish spice blend
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, ground
• about 8 cups water, or as needed

Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat bottom of a glass baking pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Place 1 bay leaf and 1 fennel leaf on each side of pan. Rub halibut with salt, fish spice blend and pepper. Cut into 2 fillets and place each one on top of bay leaf and fennel. Cover with water, until fish is completely submerged. Cook 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon mustard, prepared, the spicier the better!
• 4 teaspoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon capers
• fennel leaves from 3 sprigs
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, sliced (from my CSA!)
• 3-5 tablespoons yogurt

In a small bowl, stir together sauce ingredients until sauce is all 1 color. Once fish is cooked, serve with sauce spooned over. Serves 2.
Links to other halibut noshes:

• Grilled Halibut with Garlic Cilantro Sauce from Kalyn's Kitchen
• Steamed Halibut, Roasted Porcini Mushrooms, Pickled Sea Beans, Lemongrass Sauce from wrightfood
• Halibut with Lemon, Butter, Caper and Dill Sauce from Closet Cooking
• Halibut Mousseline with Salmon from Il Forno

Sole au coco

Sole is probably my favorite fish, so when the Boy said he wanted fish for dinner tonight, I was definitely hoping there would be some nice-looking sole at the Marche des enfants rouges, which is open until 2 pm--late for a Sunday. When we got there, the fishman was packing up and had two kinds of fish left: a white fillet and, you guessed it, sole! I asked him for two soles and asked him to skin them.

After a beautiful day with a picnic by the Seine, ice cream at Dammon and watching kids play in the sandbox in the park near Notre Dame, the Boy and I came home, hungry and looking forward for a light, springtime meal to mark a perfect end to our day. My favorite way to eat sole is sole meuniere, so I decided that was what I wanted to make, with fluffy mashed potatoes, asparagus and a salad. Instead of dipping the sole in milk and then flour, as is usually done, I tried giving the fish an exotic flavor by adding coconut milk to the milk. This added just the essence of coconut to the sole. And while it cooked, I poured the rest of the milk into the as-yet-unmashed potatoes, tying the two dishes together quite nicely.

Sole au coco

2 skinned, not deboned, Sole fillets
1/4 cup Coconut Milk
1/4 cup Milk
1/2 cup Flour
Salt and Pepper
25 g Butter
1/2 Lemon

Pre-heat oven to 240 C. Combine Coconut Milk and Milk in a bowl. Mix Flour, salt and pepper in another bowl. Heat butter in a pan over medium heat. Dip Sole first into the Milk mixture, then into the Flour mixture. Fry Sole in pan, 1-3 minutes each side. Transfer Sole to a baking dish and place in the oven. Cook 3 minutes each side. Serve each fillet with 1/4 lemon.