Reader Recipe of the Week: Halibut Pot Pie

Last week I asked readers to send in their best fish and game recipes for a new segment on the Wild Chef blog called, Reader Recipe of the Week. And in hardly no time, F&S reader Phil Traynor shared his recipe for Halibut Pot Pie.

Halibut will win any beauty contests, but they’re one of the best-tasting fish in the ocean–and just one fish will get you a ton of meat. Just ask Phil: “I came up with the dish while trying to find new uses for the freezer full halibut during a long Alaskan winter.”

I’m hungry just looking at the dish. Thanks for the recipe, Phil.

If you have a dish that you’d like to enter for the Reader Recipe of the Week, e-mail the recipe (preferably with a photo) to fswildchef@gmail.com. I’ll post one recipe a week, and if your dish appears on the blog I’ll send you a F&S hat!

Halibut Pot Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb. Halibut, coarsely chopped

2 strips bacon, diced

2 tbsp. diced salt pork (or 2 additional strip diced bacon)

½ white onion, diced

1 clove garlic

2 stalks celery, chopped

2-3 potatoes, coarsely diced

2 tbsp. butter

3 tbsp. flour

1 cup chicken stock

1 pint heavy cream

1½ tsp. Emeril’s Essence

½ tsp. fennel seed

½ tsp. thyme

½ tsp. dill

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. black pepper

¼ tsp. paprika

½ can corn

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed*

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Arrange fish in a 7×7-inch casserole dish.

Cook bacon and salt pork over medium low heat until fat is rendered, not quite crisp. Add onion, garlic, celery, and potatoes and cook until onions are translucent. Add butter and when melted, add flour and mix well. Add stock, cream, seasonings, and corn. Reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes are cooked and consistency is thick (think spaghetti sauce), about 45 minutes. If sauce becomes too thick during simmering, add water or chicken stock.

When potatoes are cooked, transfer filling to a casserole dish and top with puff pastry. Bake 12-15 minutes until crust is nicely browned.

*For an elegant presentation, cut puff pastry into 1-inch strips and weave into lattice before placing over casserole