Pan-roasted halibut from Ad Hoc at Home (page 92) by Thomas Keller

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Accompaniments: Butter-poached marble potatoes; Chanterelle mushrooms with pea shoots

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • Resip on March 21, 2026

    Although good without any sauce, the fish is meaty enough to be served with one.

  • anya_sf on July 11, 2021

    Agree that this method produces a great crust. However, with local (California) Pacific halibut, which is leaner than Alaskan, one must still be very careful not to overcook the fish. Despite cutting my fish larger (2 thick 8-oz pieces), cooking on medium-high 4 min, then low for 1 min, then oven 2 minutes, the fish still ended up kind of dry and underseasoned. That's more about the fish than the technique. Topping the fish with avocado-lime sauce (lorloff's suggestion) helped quite a bit, but I had leftovers the next day with vinaigrette and that actually added the most moisture and flavor.

  • clkandel on December 17, 2020

    Excellent crust on this. Love the technique. I think this would be good with a dab of compound butter or small amount of other sauce on top.

  • lorloff on September 20, 2020

    I could not agree more with the other reviewers. A perfect and simple technique that browns the fish marvelously without over cooking it for perfect halibut. I used a cast iron pan and it worked perfectly. the Avocado-Lime Sauce from Jay Harlow’s west coast seafood makes a great sauce to serve with this dish — 1 avocado+ juice 1 ½ limes + 1 small green chile + salt.

  • Totallywired on July 10, 2019

    Masterclass method for perfect halibut.

  • Eydie on July 05, 2011

    Thomas Keller is a great teacher, and the technique he uses to cook the halibut is genius. I've used the exact same technique on many types of fish, just decreasing the amount of searing depending on the thickness of the fish. I loved the Chanterelles and pea shoots as a side, as well as the asparagus with tomato bacon stew.

  • owaint on May 20, 2011

    With good quality fish this is truly delicious. A very simple recipe but the timings used give a beautiful golden crust with perfectly cooked inner meat. It works just as well with skin-on fillets as it does with the skinless ones shown in the book. In fact, using the skin side for most of the cooking gives a great textural/flavour boost. For nice thick pieces of fish, plenty of salt before cooking is a good idea. The recipe doesn't mention it but DON'T use a non-stick pan, plain steel is perfect and will give a much better crust. Just be patient and, when it's time to turn the fish, gently loosen it first by shaking the pan while supporting the fish - it will come away nicely and have deep golden crust that you'd never get in a Teflon pan. The Mushroom and peashoot side is perfect with it (though both benefit from a little acid - lemon for the fish and a good vinegar for the mushrooms - to pep them up).

You must Create an Account or Sign In to add a note to this book.

Reviews about this recipe

This recipe does not currently have any reviews.

You are reporting a broken online recipe link to EYB. Please confirm that you want the report submitted. Please also suggest the correct URL for this online recipe to the below textbox.