Oven-Roasted Halibut in Charmoula Marinade by Serena Bass

Oven-Roasted Halibut in Charmoula Marinade
by Serena Bass
from Serena, Food & Stories
(Stewart, Tabori, Chang, 2004)
Serves 8

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I've heard that ras el hanout can be made from thirty spices and herbs, but these seven seem perfectly fine to me. PLEASE take the time to make this — it's an irreplaceable ingredient in North African dishes, and in addition to flavoring the Charmoula Marinade, it can be added to couscous or tagines.

One-and-a-half cups of the Charmoula marinade is more than you'll need, but it will last for at least two weeks refrigerated and is wonderful rubbed on chicken, lamb shanks or chops, steak, or salmon — so get some friends over and use it up.


convert		Ingredients
Eight 8-ounce		center-cut halibut fillets
1/2 cup		Charmoula Marinade

		for the ras el hanout
		Makes 1/4 cup
3		bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons		dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons		white peppercorns
1 1/2 tablespoons		crumbled whole nutmeg (see Note)
1		cinnamon stick, broken in pieces, or 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons		whole cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons		ground ginger

		for the charmoula marinade
		Makes about 1 1/2 cups
1/2 cup		chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 cup		chopped Italian parsley leaves
1/2 cup		fresh lemon juice
2		preserved lemon quarters
3 teaspoons		paprika
2/3 teaspoon		cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons		Ras el Hanout
1 1/2 teaspoons		cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons		kosher salt
2		garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup		extra-virgin olive oil

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Method

Make the Ras el Hanout
1. Combine everything in a spice mill and blend until fine. Rub through a sieve and store airtight. Ras el hanout will stay potent for 6 weeks.

Make the Charmoula Marinade
1. To make the marinade, mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Make the halibut
1. Put the halibut in a large bowl. Pour on the marinade and gently turn to coat the fish on all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

2. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Place the halibut fillets 2 inches apart on the sheet pan and bake for about 10 minutes, or until just cooked through. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. The beauty of this marinade is its magical ability to saturate food with flavor at any temperature.

Note: To crumble nutmeg, wrap a paper towel around 2 or 3 whole nutmegs and hit them sharply a couple of times with a small, heavy saucepan.

Reviews

[Tamiko Carroll] This recipe is most certainly a keeper. There's not a thing that I would change about this dish; it's absolutely perfect in every way. There are slightly spicy, tangy, bright and clean-crisp well-balanced flavours, and there's a meltingly smooth texture to the fish as well. Each bite yields a different but wonderful flavour combination that we found defies description.

[Dan Kraan] For those of us who aren't that fond of cilantro: Don't be afraid to try this recipe! This versatile marinade is easy to prepare and, surprisingly, doesn't cover up the taste of the fish. All the flavours come together nicely. As suggested, we also tried the extra marinade on lamb chops with equally great results.