Halibut with Sriracha-Shrub Glaze and Peach Salsa

September 4, 2015

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It seems like the girls settled into the school routine pretty seamlessly this year, which is a very happy thing. I don’t know why some years seem easy and others are torturous and drama-filled, but I’m grateful for the calm. It helped that Miss M. has two good friends from last year in her 4th grade class, and we struck gold in the teacher lotto again this year. Every day at school pickup, she comes out the door smiling and excited about something. That’s the way 4th grade should be. My 4th grade teacher was a humorless old crone who sucked the fun out of everything; 4th grade for me was almost as bad as middle school. Yeah, she sucked that hard.

Miss D., despite her nervous jitters on the first day, seems to have acclimated easily to her last year of middle school. She’s definitely happy to be leaving middle school in her dust at the end of this year, though. Can’t say I blame her.

Mozzy and I had a couple of days of feeling unsettled and restless without the Minxes underfoot, but we, too, have weathered the start of the school year relatively unscathed. We are taking quite a few walks during the day; we have a bumper crop of bunnies in the neighborhood and Mozz-man is obsessed with sniffing them out of bushes and tall grass. He’ll never catch one, but that doesn’t squelch his enthusiasm one little bit.

Slowly but surely, I’m working through my big box of fundraiser peaches. I think I only have two left, actually. Those are going to be used this weekend in a peachy French toast, so keep your eyes peeled for that one, but a few days ago I decided to make a sweet and spicy peach salsa to serve over grilled fish and it was a winner! I’d gotten my fingers on a beautiful piece of halibut, but this salsa would work with mahi, or salmon, or any meaty fish for that matter. Shrimp and scallops would be brilliant, too. You could even pair it with a spice-rubbed grilled chicken–I love a fruit salsa with Jamaican Jerk-style.

I had a tiny amount of the simple syrup left from the peach-bourbon shrub recipe here. There wasn’t quite enough to make another shrub, but I didn’t want it to go to waste. Then I thought, why not mix it with something spicy and brush it over the grilled fish? I was topping the fish with peach flavors anyway, why not glaze it? Because of the vinegar in the shrub syrup, it wouldn’t be too sweet, and I love anything spicy, so I thought it would probably work. I stirred a healthy squirt of Sriracha into the simple syrup, along with a bit of ancho chile powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

I tell you, I’m a genius. This was a yummy, healthy, beautiful dish. It would be a showstopper at any party, but it’s simple enough to work for a weeknight meal. If you don’t have shrub syrup hanging about, you could always use honey as a base, with good results. Just go a little heavier on the salt and pepper if you go that route.

I hope everyone is looking forward to a long, lazy Labor Day weekend. We’ll be firing up the grill a lot, and we’re headed down to Denver one day for the Taste of Colorado (and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts). The Minxes will get a kick out of them, I bet. Whatever your plans, be safe and savor summer’s last breath.

 

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Halibut with Sriracha-Shrub Glaze and Peach Salsa

serves 4

4 (6-oz) halibut filets, skin on

Glaze:

1 1/2 ounces peach shrub syrup

1/4 teaspoon ancho chile powder

1/2-1 teaspoon Sriracha

dash garlic powder

salt and pepper

 

Salsa:

2 ripe peaches, peeled* and diced

1/2 cup diced tomato

2 tablespoons chopped red onion

1 small jalapeno pepper, chopped and seeded if desired

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, or parsley/basil if you’re a cilantro hater

juice of 1 lime

1/4 teaspoon chile powder

salt and pepper

 

Heat grill to direct high heat. Brush the fish on both sides with olive oil and season each side with salt and pepper.

Combine all of the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine all of the salsa ingredients together and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes to let the flavors blend.

Place halibut in a grill basket that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Grill the halibut 6-8 minutes total, flipping once halfway through.

Remove halibut from grill basket and brush the top of the fillets with the Sriracha glaze while still warm. Top with the salsa.

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Sherri September 9, 2015 at 6:01 am

This looks good – going to try, for sure. Glad back to school went smoothly this year.

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elizabeth September 11, 2015 at 6:02 am

This is pretty damn genius–I might have to give the peach salsa a try next week because they are still good where we are. I’ve been a big fan of mixing grilled chicken thighs with mango salsa but I should give this a try while peaches are still viable.

Glad the girls are settling into their routines, and that’s great that Miss D. is not sad about leaving middle school behind after this year.

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