Halibut Olympia

My brother came up to go fishing in August. We pulled a big surprise on my husband and told him there was only four spots available on the boat; one for him, my brother, my dad, and a family friend that was coming up with my brother (same friend that came when we went fishing in Homer a couple years ago). We told him the captain's brother and sister in law had the other two spots. Really, we had a plan; we were bringing the blond boy up and the hippy boy were going to go fishing with them.  

Thursday, before we left for Valdez, the hippy boy came to "say goodbye to grandma and grandpa" because they were leaving for the lower 48 after fishing in Valdez. He showed up and said, "Dad do you want a beer?" Dave said yes, so the Hippy Boy left the room and the Blond Boy came in with the beer. Dave was so surprised! We succeeded. That was surprise #1.

Surprise #2 was that we told Dave the Hippy Boy couldn't go fishing because he had to work and there wasn't room on the boat because really the captain's brother was fishing with them. The Hippy Boy did work but he drove the 7 hours to get to Valdez after work and at 5:00 am showed up at the camper and asked if his dad was ready to go down to the docks. Dave was surprised again. So the 6 boys went fishing for two days and my mom and I wandered through Valdez and checked out the museums in town.

Well, the boys were very successful on the boat. Bold Eagle out of Valdez did a great job with the charter. Coffee was ready on the boat at 6:00 when the boys showed up to the dock, the tunes were great, the captain and deck hand were a lot of fun, and they all had a great time.

First Day's Catch

Second Day's Catch

And now we have a freezer full of fish. We have halibut, cod, and rock fish for the winter. Everyone took boxes of fish home with them and we took some fish down to the Curly Haired boy when we went to visit. We'll be eating fish at least once a week all winter and Halibut Olympia is one of our favorite ways to eat it.

Halibut Olympia

1 1/2 lb. halibut fillet (cod works well here too)

1 small onion

4 Tbsp. butter, divided

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp. garlic

3-4 shakes of tabasco 

salt and pepper

1/2 cup pork dust (or cracker crumbs)

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Slice onion in half moons, sauté with one Tbsp. butter over medium heat until soft and caramelized.

Put remaining 3 Tbsp. butter in 8X8 pan and put in oven until butter is melted.  Place onions in pan.

Rinse and trim the fish, salt and pepper both sides.  Place fish in pan on top of onions. In a small bowl mix mayo, sour cream, garlic and tabasco.  Spread over top of fish.

Sprinkle pork dust (aka ground pork rinds) or cracker crumbs over top.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until fish is cooked through and flakes with a fork.

serves 6

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September  5   Sunrise 6:44 am  Sunset 8:52 pm  Temp H 60 /L 43˚F