After three attempts, I mastered Halibut Olympia.

Preheat 375

Melt butter in bottom of pyrex dish. Put in lots of onions. Cut fresh halibut in 3/4-1" strips. Pat as dry as you can. Put two strips of hali on onions. Salt & Pepper

Cover with a 50-50 mix of Mayo and Sour Creme.

Bake 20 minutes. Pull out, put on lots of grated cheddar cheese. Bake 3 more minutes.

It's really good. My first two attempts I didn't pat dry and cut my pieces too thick resulting in too much halibut and not enough goop.

Tomorrow I will try mixing some hot sauce in the the mayo/sour cream mixture. I've got a good hunk of halibut in fridge I am working on.

SOunds about like redfish on the halfshell in a way. Sounds good

I am eating a keto type diet right now, so I can eat this way without blowing up like a balloon. It was really good and the halibut wasn't grainy or dry like I had with the thicker cuts. Wondering how I could a smokey flavor to the cheese topping. I had it once at a restaurant and it was smokey. So good.

Smoked cheese?

I love Halibut.....so I copied the recipe....I'll try it in the next few days.

Wife suggested smoked paprika. Will try that too.

Something worth trying for halibut or rockfish is a super easy dish I came up with. Mix 1 heaping tablespoon of this with ~1/4 cup mayo (I prefer veganaise or Costco's avacodo based mayo) and spoon on top of fillets. Bake at 425 until the fillets firm up. Very tasty and simple to make.

Interesting, I hope I can remember this one long enough to buy curry IF the local market has it.

You could always make it from scratch, recipes abound. Most large supermarket chains have an Asian food section with the popularity of Thai food there should be some brand of red curry paste on the shelf. If not, there's always Amazon.

I think it comes out better with the vegi based mayo's, especially the avocada based one I last used than traditional mayo's. I've also done it with sour creme instead of mayo, works as well.

That looks good.

Bacon wrapped halibut for dinner. Getting some mileage out of that fillet of halibut that was given to me. Had another fresh fillet offered to me today, but turned it down.

Halibut is my favorite..... if I were to ever fish Alaska again, it would be straight halibut and lings....

I'm a huge fan of halibut.

A buddy went fishing with me and brought a smoked halibut dip. He cold smokes it, and then puts it in jars and the pressure cooker. Probably the best dip I've ever had. They are shutting us down March 15th for commercial, so now I need to go load up on halibut and get the smoker/pressure cooker going! Going to put a hurt on the spot prawns too.

What’s the limit on halibut up there Joel ?

Might be a cool trip for me and momma for a few days

It's pretty low at the moment for guided. One a day under 38" for guided. Unguided is 2 a day, any size. Subsistence is 20 a day.

Can I book a substance trip??? Grin

I love Hailbut, but mayo and sour cream? Are we 12?

When I read this I thought what a great way to ruin halibut, as I hardly season it. I’m betting halibut is about like eating salad for us. And no he’s not 12....

Smoked paprika is good, but it will not give you the kind of depth you are looking for.

So smoke your onions... Away from direct heat in a smoker just build a bit of smoke and let the onions go for a while. Just check that they are not weeping or they will pick up a lot of smoke, very fast. That will get the smoke into the fish while baking. If the onion weeps and you smoke it too long it will get bitter!

I treat yogurt, mayo, and sour cream the same in HO and use any combination of the three, or any one of them.

With you up to your choice in mayo!

That sounds really good, as I'm a big fan of avocado vs regular mayo, not to mention curry. Tried Eileen's(Mule Deers better half) avacado based potato salad recipe(it's in her latest cookbook), and have been hooked since. It's a great sub if you don't care for mayo.

Jeff

Food snob.

Might not be for the more sophisticated palate, but would probably wash down well with a case of bud light.

Silver Bullets!

You know it's bad when you are walking down the dock in Feb and someone is filleting out a halibut and you turn down 5lbs of fillets.

I can't eat it unseasoned or just plain. There is a food truck in town named Fish N Chicks. They make amazing battered halibut as well as just about everything else. Tempted to send the wife down there to work just to learn the secret.

I only venture to the other side of the island on the days that fish and chicks is open!

I did some guessing at the missing data and took the advice provided by Calvin....it's spectacular!!!!!


Here is what I did

preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit
melt 4 tablespoons butter in 2 1/2 quart baking dish

Finely slice (1/16" thick) one medium sweet onion and bisect to not have rings but 1/4 circles and add to melted butter

Cut fish (one pound of Halibut in this case) to strips approximately 1/2" X 1/2" by the length of the fillet but not longer than the baking dish.....use this fish to cover the onion.

NOTE: The fish to be thoroughly patted dry with paper towels....I destroyed a dozen paper towel sheets doing this.....dry is good in this case

Mix 2/3 cup sour cream and 2/3 cup mayonnaise, 1 tsp dill seed, 1 tsp dill weed and 1/2 tsp black pepper fine grind....add to the baking dish thoroughly covering the fish.

Bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees uncovered

remove from the oven and add 6 ounces shredded mild cheddar cheese and bake another three minutes.

It's now dinner time.....if you don't like this see a doctor as there's something radically wrong with your taste buds.

tag

I'm glad someone appreciates sour cream and mayo.

I put the charter boat in the water yesterday for some harvesting. Since they shut us down for commercial trolling, it's full harvest mode till charter season for me. Going to prospect a bunch of new halibut spots I've been wanting to fish for years. It'll be fresh king, halibut, spot prawns, dungie crab, rockfish, lingcod, and yellow eye for the next few unemployed months I have.

Next up: Breaded Yellow Eye Baja Tacos w/ homemade tortillas. We made it years ago with a jalapeno sauce, and it was amazing. Give me a week. I'll take pictures this time.

I love cheddar, but smoked provolone could be killer here..

I live in a dairy state, may need some help with the Halibut though.

30 minutes sounds WAY too long. Total thickness in inches times 8 to 10 minutes per inch maximum.

I found that the mayo/sour cream mixture really throws off traditional cooking times if you heap enough of it on. It was still basically raw when I thought it should be done.

It is what it is.....30 minutes with two cups of white stuff covering it...but since I've cut that to 1.5 cups of total white stuff.....possibly the 30 minutes should be reduced but not by much!

I use a very similar sour cream and mayo sauce for pickled pike and other fish.....it's outstanding as well

I emailed this thread to a friend that replied he uses a similar recipe with Italian dressing and salmon.....now that's gotta be the bees knees!

Caramelize that onion ! And change type of onion for a different spin....we call it " dawns butt chow " cause she gave us the recipe years ago ...a touch of lemon to ...

I just made this with Pollock instead of Halibut....It's a lot cheaper...($2/lb vs $26/lb)....and added 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice to the fish....same onion (vidalia) but not caramelized....

HELLUVA dish....excellent....

Calvin and vapodog,

Thanks for the great recipe! Wife and daughter are out of town on a little spring break trip and they probably think old dad and brother are starving... Not!

I made a dish of Halibut Olympia as recommended here and it was delicious to say the least. I made a second dish adding mild diced green chiles over the sweet onions, switched out chipotle mayo for the olive oil mayo, and also switched a sprinkling of ground cumin for the dill weed. Cheese was still added on top followed by some crumbled Ritz crackers! Probably ought to call it Halibut de Cabo instead! My son is a kind of picky eater but he actually liked the latter one better... suprised me for sure.

I suspect they will be even better tonight as leftovers. Mouth watering!

Nice! I've been in slay mode here, and have put 10 kings and a 50lb halibut in the boat this last week. Fresh halibut and king in the freezer makes me a happy guy.

I've been keeping copper rockfish too as I can pretty much drop the downriggers down, and catch on demand. I cut into strips, dunk in egg, and roll in ritz. Holy crap is it good when done fresh.

Going to blow the next week, and then its off to Wrangell for two weeks of intense boat work. Replacing four planks and a deck beam on the Glory. As well as some recorking and refastening. Better not forget to bring my wallet!

Anybody want to take a boat ride to Wrangell? Trip of a lifetime.. haha

Gosh, I'd give anything for fresh fish. I've got 600+ pounds of red meat in fridge but I miss fresh fish badly....

Jealous here buddy!

Makes two of us...though, I can catch stocked trout.

We can work on that! Early June 2019 will be a Campfire trip. I won't make a dime. Four spots available.

That should be worth the price of admission and a whole lot more!!!

Whoever gets chosen for this trip will not be disappointed. Joel is one of if not the best fisherman/charter out of Craig and early June is my favorite time to fish here!

Calvin what’s the details on that^ or is it a secret handshake gig?

No secret handshake. No strings attached. As long as you get along with folks (this is a huge one as there will be four individuals), love to fish and hunt, can have a good time without getting sloppy drunk, and aren't coming here to kick someones ass, you are in. I don't even care if we've gotten into it on the 'fire before. First come first serve if you are a contributing member of the hunting/fishing portion of the campfire. If I fill up, then you go on a waiting list should someone back out or for 2020 and beyond. I have June 1-3 blocked out. You arrive the day before, leave the day after. There will be no compensation at all, but you will be responsible for paying for your share of the lodging (split four ways) and whatever food you get. There will also be no gratuities as it will not be an official charter. (lets us play by a different set of rules) Dinners you are on your own.

It will be three 10 hour fishing days both on inside and outside waters. Kings, Halibut, Lingcod, and Yellow Eye. It will be a shakedown group, as I will be getting in guide mode so there will be a lot of fishing and looking. I run a series of spots on the outer coast and use these days to know what is where. Also do a fair amount of halibut prospecting too. After fishing, helping vacuum pack fish (and fillet if you can do a good job) will let you take a bunch of fish home.

PM for more details or say "I'm in". I'm saving a spot for Greg as he really needs fish. KK really wants to come too I think.

I need to stock up on Mayo and Sour Cream.

Hell of a deal.....Joel I can do 2 of the same but I can put them up myself. The wind can really corn us here though.......

And its harder to get here, I am at Port Armstrong. Lots of good yelloweye fishing and we can probably find a butt. If its coho season I know how to troll for them. Limited out a lot of days

I tried this same recipe (less the lemon) but used boneless chicken breast instead of fish.....let me tell you something....it's a helluva good reason to shoot a chicken.....for you Alaskans you might try substituting Ptarmigan.....

I did precook the chicken 1/2 hour at 375 deg prior to baking the balance of 1/2 hour in the mayo-cream sause....find a chicken and do it in....it's worth your time.

You da Man Joel!

Do guys have to clean and fillet their own catch? (Like that will be a deal breaker ) Rockfish can be a beeotch.

All full for 2019. Good crew. I can cut.

I've been known to run a fillet knife as well. I'll be packing a couple of my favorite blades along.

Favorite halibut knife? I want to cut my Halibut fillet time in half this year.

I think Rick Bin has footage of Dan running through a stack of 'but. It would give you something to strive for in both speed and quality, consistent cuts. He is literally awesome and I have seen more than a few tons of halibut cut...

That is a heck of a deal. WOW... Some people are going to have a great time.

I've fished out of Hoonah, and if was great.

I remember watching Dan unzip 'em whilst Chris dropped guts down the front of his bibs!

Unfazed, he was.

You must have been hammered, cause there is no way that happened!

No No! He meant you were dropping them down the front of your own bibs! Of course you would not go near the epee!
Sheeesh...

I've seen Dan in action also and would have the agree!

IIRC, the epee was bandied about and some verbal threats made.

Maybe I dreamed it. Or not.

That does sound like one of your dreams.

If I remember right, Dan was on a 65-70 second average on the butts that day, including taking the cheeks.

He is a cheeky bastard!

Baked Halibut Olympia today. It is GOOD!

Never heard of it till this thread, so thank you! Wife really likes it.

Awesome. Glad you enjoyed it. I need to make myself another Olympia dinner.

Been playing around with deep frying lingcod as we caught a nice one a few days ago on the way in from king fishing. (44.5 inches). Learning to cut the pieces smaller to avoid too much of the "mush" with lingcod. Need to dredge up some yellow eye for a good comparison. Had a great conversation with the owner of the fish truck in town. She told me that demand is strongest for deep fried yellow eye, but is having trouble sourcing it. She told me to keep going smaller with my chunks to get the mush out of Ling.

What do you mean by "cut the pieces smaller?" Thinner?
I've never deep fried Ling, I've only done halibut or the true cod we catch. Yellow eye is great, no matter how you cook it.

I made a batch of "halibut bread" again last night. Man I love that, but restrict myself to once or twice a year.

More chicken nugget size compared to chicken tender size I’d that makes sense. Best time I am going to gut, scrape, and pack in ice for 24 hours. I hear that helps firm it up.

Gotcha. Good to know.

I made my fifth dish of XXX olympia....twice with fish, twice with chicken and once with pork chop.....while I really like the Halibut, the price decreases it's desirability somewhat. That said.....it seems the basic recipe can be used with many types of meat.....maybe even shrimp...scallops.....who knows.....Lets keep this thing a secret.....It wouldn't be good to raise the price of sour cream an mayo ya know!

Beer battered lingcod done right Is hard to beat !

Too late... it's on the menu of every restaurant in AK.

Fortunately halibut prices are coming down. Hope to pick up a block of IFQ this fall. Not to harvest but to transfer to charter clients.

Several years ago I concocted a slightly similar salmon dish, but in one of the few errors of my life, did not write down what went into it.

I made a goo with a primary base of Thousand Island dressing. Added some Caesar (?) dressing, lemon juice, assorted spices that were on hand and would go with fish, and likely a dash of soy, balsamic vinegar and Louisiana hot sauce. Tinkered with it to taste with what was on hand.

Then cut fresh salmon into one inch cubes and soused them in the goo for awhile. Some of the belly pieces were ¾ inch thick or a little less. Then very gently dumped the whole into a big non-stick skillet on the stove top. Cooked on no more than medium high, (I started on medium and eased to low) and very gently turned the pieces as they cooked, using two wooden spatulas, to keep them from coming apart as much as possible. Aim for done but barely done rather than over cooked.

Serve still slathered/partly covered in the hot cooked sauce.

I made that three times, once at a special dinner with several guests who raved about it. Wife loved it. Then got to hunting or something and drifted on to other things as the salmon run ended. This Olympia dish makes me want to revisit the salmon thing again.

Here is another recipe . I use this on Striped bass and had it tonight. Lay a fillet out and cut 3/4 inch medallions we cut 4-6 pieces. Mix 4 tb sp of softened butter, 4 tb sp of mayo, 4 heaping tb spoons of parmesan cheese. Add tabasco or red pepper flakes to your liking. Season the fish with S&P on both sides and place them under the broiler for 10 minutes or just before your desired liking. Pull them out quick and place the mixture on top and place them back in until the topping turns a golden brown. Arugula salad with craisins, clementines/orange slices and a raspberry vinaigrette make for nice meal in our house.

Huge lingcod "bloom" in our area, so I forced myself to like lingcod.. haha Those fish were everywhere this year. Not sure where they came from. Some monsters too. Going to rig up for dinglebar fishing next May and load up on them. Dinglebar fishing, for those of you who might actually be curious is where you drag a lead lead filled pipe around rockpiles with jigs attached and you harvest lingcod commercially.

I modified my olympia recipe a little to include red chili flakes and paprika.