His cryptic text said to meet him in the southwest corner of the Safeway parking lot in Gig Harbor at 6. And to try not to look or act suspicious.
Though I was right on time, he was late; the two motorcycle cops parked on the other side of the parking lot must have delayed his arrival. They left 10 minutes later and sure enough, he pulled up in his vintage chevy pickup which was just as much rust as it was some tint of long faded blue.
The cooler was in the back.
Scoping out the parking lot in a manner eerily reminiscent of a drug dealer in a bad B-movie, he finally oozed out of the cab, ambled over and said the terms of the deal had changed. The price, true to form, had gone up since I placed the order.
I knew it would be useless to argue; he said he had to move the goods and he other buyers waiting if I didn’t cough up the cash then and there.
He knew he had me. I handed over the cash, we walked around to the cooler (a 160 qt Yeti by the way – business must be good) and he hand cut it right there, bagged it, iced it and dropped it in my hands.
Just then we heard a tense female voice utter ‘got it you assholes’ and turned to wave at a mom in a minivan filming us on an iPhone.
We waved, smiled and both said the word ‘Halibut’ at the same time.
Yep, halibut.
With market price for fresh halibut fillets and steaks at the $21-22 dollar altitude my new ‘friend’ has been running to the market in Seattle, buying a whole halibut in the 40-45 lb range (at a market price of $13-14 as of this morning) and selling it at a tidy profit. Subtract a tank of gas and he still clears $300 a day in cold, hard cash.
She Who Must Be Obeyed has become an ardent fan of really good halibut fish and chips and I’ve been itching to grill today’s recipe again – Lime Basil Halibut, though (almost) shamefully I’d have to admit the Chipotle Aioli is so outrageously good in a fish taco made with this recipe I dreamed about ’em the last time we made it.
Halibut
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
3 tbsp. fresh basil, finely chopped
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 tsp. good salt
2 large limes, freshly squeezed (a must)
4 6-ounce halibut steaks or filletsChipotle Aioli
2 egg yolks
3 cups good olive oil
5 dried chipotle peppers, seeded, rehydrated and pureed
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Marinate the halibut. Combine well the garlic, basil, olive oil, salt and lime juice. Cover the halibut steaks with the marinade; let sit for an hour at room temperature. (Don’t go longer or the lime juice will begin to ‘cook’ the halibut.)
Make the Aioli. Set up your trusty food processor, add the egg yolks and beat them well. With the processor running, dribble in the olive oil (slowly) to form a mayonnaise consistency mixture in the bowl.
Fold in the pepper puree, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Chill.
Grill time. Fire the grill; when ready, grill the halibut for 4 minutes or so a side until done to your liking.
Serve. Plate and serve immediately with a big dollop of the Chipotle Aioli on the side or flake and create your new favorite fish taco with all the fixin’s.
Enjoy.
