Dining

Basking in Botero’s poached halibut with corn pudding

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A simple and healthy yet luxuriously flavorful fish dish at Botero.
Photo: Beverly Poppe

The Details

Botero
At Encore, 248-3463.
Sunday-Thursday, 6-10:15 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-2:15 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 6-11:15 p.m.

Botero at Encore, named for the Colombian artist, is often categorized as a steakhouse. It’s actually a bit more elegant, with plenty of fresh seafood dishes balancing out the beefy offerings. Chef Mark LoRusso’s menu is driven by seasonal ingredients, and late spring will see the arrival of this simple and healthy yet luxuriously flavorful olive oil-poached halibut.

“I like the method, how we submerge the fish in olive oil, because halibut tends to be dry a lot when people cook it at home,” LoRusso says. “The oil, still relatively healthy, keeps the fish very moist, and the corn pudding is a nice little trick.” It’s really just fresh corn run through a juicer, with the natural starch thickening things up.

Olive Oil-Poached Halibut with Corn Pudding

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

4 6-oz. portions Alaskan halibut

3 tbsp. chopped parsley, chives and thyme, mixed

1 cup corn kernels

1 lb. chanterelles (cleaned)

5 cups blended olive oil in a pot or bath (heat to 140 degrees)

2 tbsp. whole butter

8 ears fresh corn

salt and white pepper

Method: To make the corn pudding, clean and shuck all the ears of corn. Juice the corn with a commercial juicer. Put the juice in a shallow pot and simmer on medium to low heat while whisking. Whisk until the juice has become a thickened pudding. Remove from the heat. Season slightly with white pepper and add salt only if needed. For the halibut, season the fish with salt and white pepper. Crust one side of the fish with the herbs. Sear the herb crusted side in a hot sauté pan with olive oil. Once browned, flip the fish to the other side for 30 seconds. Remove the fish from the pan and finish cooking in the olive oil bath. While that is cooking, sauté the mushrooms and corn kernels in the butter until fully cooked. Finish with parsley. Lastly, warm up the corn pudding and serve with the fish.

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