Halibut with braised lentils, asparagus and soy ginger sauce

I recently volunteered at the 3rd annual Taste: Victoria's Festival of Food and Wine and if you haven't been to this festival yet, make a mental note, because you'll want to go next year. Taste is a fabulously indulgent and classy food event that focuses on local chefs, restaurants and wineries. I had a great time managing the social media during the Main Event - tweeting, retweeting, replying and checking out pictures people captured on their phones. I had a blast and will definitely be there again next summer.

As a thank you, the organizers Kathy and Ladawne gave me a generous gift including the cookbook, Hastings House Country Estate. From the country house hotel it's named after, this delightful book from Salt Spring Island features some of their best recipes for brunch, dinner and dessert. The recipe for sablefish, braised du puy lentils, green asparagus and soy ginger emulsion caught my eye and inspired me to leave the lawn chair long enough to give this a try.

Pleased with my results, this is an elegant main course that makes you feel like you're dining out - but in the comfort of your own home. Keep your eyes on the lentils, the liquid and baking time may need adjusting. But isn't that part of the fun?



Halibut with braised lentils, asparagus and soy ginger sauce (serves 2)

Braised Lentils
2 shallots, diced
2 cups green or brown lentils, rinsed
1 carrot, diced
2 sticks of celery, diced
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 - 1/2 cup red wine
2 cups vegetable stock

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium saucepan, melt butter and saute shallots, carrot and celery until soft. Stir in rinsed lentils then add wine and vegetable stock. Place the pan, with a lid on it, in the oven for about 50 minutes. Check and stir along the way, sampling to see if more wine or stock is needed.

Soy Ginger Sauce
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated and juiced
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon + a pinch more of brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Grate the ginger and squeeze juice into a small bowl. Mix remaining ingredients together with a whisk and set aside.

Asparagus
1 bunch of green asparagus, trimmed and peeled
dap of butter and a splash of olive oil
salt and pepper to season

Snap off the stocky part of each asparagus stem and then peel using a vegetable peeler. In a medium fry pan, melt butter and olive oil together. Once hot, add asparagus, salt and pepper and quickly sear until tender and slightly charred.

Halibut
2 portions of halibut
salt and pepper
olive oil

Season each piece of halibut with salt and pepper, both sides. Heat a large fry pan with olive oil. Once hot, sear both sides of the halibut until just cooked all the way through.

To serve, plan a large spoonful of lentils in the middle of your plate. Top with halibut, grilled asparagus and drizzle the soy ginger sauce on top and around the plate. Pour a glass of wine, light some candles and enjoy!

Simply Seared Asparagus

A big thank you to all of you who voted on your favorite spring food. And the spears-down, ur hands-down winner is asparagus. Is it any wonder that the delightful asparagus - one of the first, fresh vegetables of spring - is so many people's favorite this time of year? Asparagus is reserved for special dinners and mother's day brunches. And, this elegant vegetable enjoys a certain sophistication that a string bean could dream of.


My favorite way to enjoy asparagus is simply seared. Crispy yet tender, perfectly seared in a hot cast iron pan and seasoned with salt and pepper. Follow these steps for the perfect side of fresh, seasonal asparagus.

Watch my totally DIY video on how to snap and peel asparagus stalks.




Preparing and searing the asparagus

Ingredients
1 bunch of asparagus
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon grape seed oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Take each asparagus and hold one end in each hand. Bring your two hands together and snap each stalk- the stalk will break at the point where it goes from tender to tough.

Once you have snapped each stalk, peel each one right up to the base of the asparagus tip so that the whole stem is peeled.

Using a pot or frying pan, fill with two inches of water and bring it to boil. Toss in the asparagus and flash boil it for 30 seconds. Drain and rinse the asparagus under cold water.

In a cast iron frying pan, melt one teaspoon of butter and one teaspoon of oil over a medium high heat. When the pan is good and hot, add the asparagus and season with salt and pepper. After one minutes, toss gently or rotate the sears until they are crisp and seared on all sides.

Sear the asparagus in the frying pan only for about 3 minutes being careful not to over cook. They are best enjoyed crisp yet tender, with a bright green colour and buttery taste.

Broccoli, Asparagus Spears and Green Beans

I'm using our impeding house move to really take stock of everything and upgrade a little. I mean why move mis-matched wine glasses, copious plastic containers, tired old bath towels? So, today I did some much needed cleaning and tossing. And to top this day of purification, I've made a salad of steamed broccoli, asparagus and green beans.


Broccoli, Asparagus Spears and Green Beans w/ Thai Dressing

Ingredients
2 cups broccoli, chopped
1 bunch asparagus spears with 1 inch peeled steam
1 cup green beans
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
salt, pepper to taste
Paul Newman's Low Fat Sesame Thai Dressing

Directions
Steam the chopped broccoli, asparagus spears and green beans.l Once tender, run the veggies under cold water. In a bowl, toss the veggies with salt, pepper and a generous drizzling of the sesame thai dressing. Top with sesame seeds and enjoy.