Panko Parm Halibut Cheeks

As if I needed another reason to adore Olympia Seafood Company, they provided me with a huge one last week. I stopped in to grab something to cook up for dinner and something stood out in a big way. Halibut Cheeks, fresh that day. After making that selection I got 8 of them (3/4 lb) and the man helping me (I believe he owns the place) got really excited as they were going to be his dinner as well. Having never cooked Halibut Cheeks before I asked what his plan was. Excitedly, he told about how the guy at the restaurant next door (I have to imagine he was talking about Dockside Bistro). Breaded with a mixture of panko and parmesan, egg white wash, a bit of salt and pepper, pan fried, dip it in a red sauce. I was sold. Literally on the cheeks, figuratively on the recipe. To make things easy for me, he even offered a handful of panko so I wouldn't have to put any unnecessary time between me and dinner. I had some though and happily declined. I drove home and whipped up this choice meal.

Panko Parm Halibut Cheeks

8 med size halibut cheeks
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/2 cup panko
3 egg whites
salt
pepper
ghee or vegetable oil
your favorite red pasta sauce... or make your own

The Cheeks:

Super Easy!

Mix the parm and panko in a blender. Blend. Put on plate thats larger than the biggest cheek.

Hit both sides of the raw cheeks with salt and pepper (I rolled them in it, which was a little excessive)

Dip a cheek in the egg whites.

Bread it in the panko and parm mixture. Don't be afraid to press a little bit on to make sure it sticks.

Repeat with each cheek.

The sauce:

I mixed a can of organic tomato sauce with all the available herbs from the garden. Those were...

Greek oregano
Chives
Silver thyme
Parsley
Rosemary

I didn't feel like chopping, so I blended them and added it to the sauce with about 3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar.

Cooking:

I used about a tbsp of ghee for each batch of 4 cheeks. Burner on medium-high in a nonstick pan. Approximately 3 minutes on each side.

Bring the sauce to a boil.

Serve.

Love.

Pistachio Crusted Salmon

Friends from out of town had seen some of the things I had been making and demanded that I make them delicious dinner. For this occasion I whipped out a recipe that I had been considering for a while... pistachio crusted salmon.

The recipe came from here and was truly all I could have hoped for. Easily fed 5 for dinner and the leftovers were quickly gobbled up the next day. I served some white wine to go with it and then we had four loko martinis for dessert.

Recipe:

2 lbs fresh (wild if you can get it) salmon
2 tbsp dijon or deli mustard
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup shelled pistachios, finely chopped
1/4 cup panko crumbs
2 tbsp chives, chopped
2 tbsp italian parsley, chopped
Pepper to taste

Turn the oven to 400 degrees.

In one bowl mix up the mustard, honey, and butter. In another mix the pistachios, panko, chives, and parsley.

Skin the salmon and cut into 4 pieces. Spread the honey mustard mix over the top and then coat with the pistachio herb mixture.

Bake for approximately 12-14 minutes.

And the less tasty looking picture of it from when the sunlight ran out...