{Cooking Light Night} Halibut with Bacon and Mushrooms

Isn't it funny that once you become obsessed with something, you tend to see it everywhere? Ever since my love affair with with Benton bacon lardons began, bacon recipes seem to jump out at me at every turn. (Not to mention the recipes where I say, "Hmm, that would be even better with a few lardons.")

This week I replenished my supply of lardons, so I was good to go when I spotted this recipe from Cooking Light in the Sept 2007 magazine. It always gives me a kick to make a "light" recipe that uses verboten ingredients like bacon and bacon drippings (thanks, Cathy, for the awesome vocabulary word!) And this recipe called for fresh thyme, so my little herb garden came into play.

I wasn't sure how the bacon/onion/mushroom thing would go with the halibut thing. A few of the online reviews thought the elements didn't mesh, but I was hoping my taste buds would disagree. As an aside, I love how the Cooking Light recipes are online, so no matter where I run across the recipe I can type it in and find lots of tips and feedback from the reviewers.

cook's notes:

- I used precooked bacon lardons, and drippings, both from the freezer - had no idea how much to use. It seemed weird that the recipe would use all of the drippings from 4 slices of bacon. I added about 1-2 T drippings to my pan, and estimated that 4 oz of cooked lardons would equal the 4 slices of bacon.

- At 3-4 minutes, the mushrooms gave off their liquid. I decided I wanted the mushrooms golden, so scraped out the onions and cooked until the liquid evaporated and the mushrooms were browned. In the future I'd cook the mushrooms with the thyme and add the onions towards the end.

- I skipped the rice and served the fish with salt potatoes and steamed green beans. Rice and fish just didn't sound that appealing to me.

- Although the recipe is in the "Superfast" "20 Minutes" section of the magazine, I didn't find it quick - there were several steps. Luckily only one pan. If I hadn't started with cooked bacon, it would have taken even longer. No way this was a 20 minute recipe.

the verdict:

Our reactions to this recipe were a bit mixed. My husband LOVED it, but I just was not bowled over. My fish got a bit tough simmering on the stovetop. The bacon was fine with the onions and mushrooms (although the lardons really didn't get a chance to shine), but I thought they were a bit jarring with the fish. Hubby didn't see that problem at all. He also said he would have liked this with rice. Unfortunately for him, I don't see myself making this recipe again, when I have these favorite ways to prepare halibut:

Roasted Halibut with a Walnut Crust
Panko Crusted Halibut with Chile Cilantro Aioli
Roasted Halibut with Sage