Under the (Cuban) Influence

Cuban Style Halibut
This was lick the plate good. I'm just sayin'.

Many years ago we had a Cuban influenced seafood restaurant not far from here. I went there often enough. I liked the food. They prepared the second best calamari I ever had. Then they took banana flan off the menu. And I never went back. I'm sure they had some really good data that said the banana flan wasn't making them any money. I find that hard to believe. They folded a year or two later. Well ya. I don't know whatever possessed them to take banana flan off the menu.

So anyway. Here I've been craving Latin style Island Food for a week and I figure I should be able to make something to satisfy my craving. So I researched Cuban fish recipes. I found...nothing. Because they don't eat fish in Cuba. Not much anyway. No really. Cuba is a poor country. Until recently they didn't have refrigeration inland, so they don't eat fish there. The fishermen are the poorest of the poor and they're about the only ones that eat fish. This is what I read anyway. Ok, peasant food works for me and I'm sure they have some lovely dishes but apparently the Cuban fisherman aren't writing cookbooks.

So. What's so Cuban about my halibut? Nothing really. But it was so delicious.

Peel some tomatoes. Put a little cross slit in the end opposite the stem, dip them in some boiling water for 30 seconds and then dip them in cold water. I used Campari tomatoes. They're about the size of ping pong balls and packaged in a plastic box. They're expensive but they're delicious. I used 6 of them for this. Chop them.

Sauté a chopped yellow onion, 4 cloves of finely chopped garlic and a teaspoon of red pepper flakes in some olive oil for a couple of minutes, just until the onions are soft.

Add a cup of dry white wine. Reserve the rest for drinking. I used pinot grigio. Reduce it by maybe half and add the chopped tomatoes. Make sure you get all their liquid. Add a pinch of salt and cook for a few minutes, until the tomatoes start to break down.

Rinse and dry your fish. I used halibut but you can use cod or haddock just as easily, maybe even striped bass. Halibut is just my favorite fish.

Edit: Season your fish with a little salt and pepper!

Add your fish to the cooking liquid, reduce the heat to low and cover it. This is more braised than poached. I'd say start checking to see if it's done in about 7 or 8 minutes. My halibut was done in about 8 and a half minutes. Just use a fork to gently poke at it and see if it's starting to flake. Finish with a liberal amount of chopped cilantro.

I had rice and green beans with my fish.

Don't be afraid to try new things in the kitchen. I over-reduced my braising liquid beyond my intent. It was still delicious. It just didn't run into the rice like I wanted. Next time I'll be a little more careful. I also forgot to finish the braising liquid with a bit of butter. That would have made the sauce a little more silky and luscious.