Butter-Poached Halibut with Champagne Velouté and Caviar

⏱ 60 min · Serves 4

A restaurant-plate showstopper: pearly halibut poached gently in butter until it flakes into glossy petals, cloaked in a silky Champagne velouté enriched with cream and lemon, and finished with a cool spoonful of caviar and a scatter of chives. Elegant, luxurious and surprisingly calm to cook if you get your mise en place done first.

Per serving: 665 kcal · 40.0g protein · 9.0g carbs · 47.0g fat

Ingredients

• 4 halibut fillets, skinless, about 150g each, 3cm thick
• 250g unsalted butter, diced, plus 30g for the sauce
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 2 banana shallots, finely sliced
• 1 garlic clove, sliced
• 2 white peppercorns, cracked
• 1 bay leaf
• 300ml Champagne or dry sparkling wine
• 300ml good fish stock
• 150ml double cream
• 20g plain flour
• 1 tsp lemon juice, plus zest to finish
• 30g caviar or oscietra (or trout roe as a swap)
• 1 tbsp finely snipped chives
• Flaky sea salt and white pepper
• 200g fine green beans or wilted baby spinach, to serve

Method

1. Take the halibut out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking, pat very dry and season lightly with salt.
2. Make the sauce base: sweat the shallots, garlic, peppercorns and bay in the oil over low heat for 6–8 minutes without colouring.
3. Add the Champagne, bring to a simmer and reduce by two-thirds, about 8 minutes. Add the fish stock and reduce by half again.
4. In a small pan melt 30g butter, stir in the flour and cook 2 minutes to a blond roux. Strain the hot Champagne reduction onto the roux, whisking hard, and simmer 5 minutes until it coats a spoon.
5. Whisk in the cream, simmer 3 minutes, then season with salt, white pepper and the lemon juice. Blitz with a stick blender for 20 seconds for a light foam-edged velouté. Keep warm off the boil.
6. Butter-poach the fish: in a wide sauté pan, warm 100ml water over low heat and whisk in the 250g diced butter a few pieces at a time to form a cloudy emulsion. Bring to 60–65°C — it should never bubble.
7. Slide in the halibut and poach gently for 10–12 minutes, spooning butter over, until the flesh is just opaque and flakes at the thickest point (internal 50–52°C). Lift out and rest on kitchen paper for 2 minutes.
8. Blanch the green beans in salted water for 3 minutes, or wilt the spinach in a knob of the poaching butter.
9. Plate: greens in the centre, halibut on top, pour the velouté around and give it a final blitz-foam if you like. Spoon the caviar over the fish, scatter chives and a whisper of lemon zest. Serve immediately with the rest of the Champagne.