Halibut for the halibut! (Read it aloud ... it works :)

*Camera phone until further notice.

Despite my vast creativity and skilled intuition in the kitchen (wink, wink), I honestly had no idea how halibut, red wine, and bacon would work out on the same plate. What would the Peller Estates crowd have to say about this? I served it with mashed potatoes. (Note: the photograph is of Fok's plate. For the record, this insulin-resistant gal took just enough potatoes to taste ;)

Modifications:

I peeled the garlic and reduced the quantity to 3 cloves.

Preparation:

I thought I would try following the recipe as closely as possible; I was very curious how blanched, unpeeled shallots could make the difference. I did find them a little sweet at the end, though I suspect it may not have been due to that particular step. I used about a cup and a quarter of red wine, and reduced it to just a few tablespoons to drizzle over the fish. And wow! I dirtied a lot of dishes! I was happy to have Fok on hand to wash them all -- the medium skillet here, large skillet there, and heavy skillet well, over yonder.

The Verdict:

I thought this dish was just so-so. I had some decent red wine on hand from last night, but still found it too strong, particularly with the spinach. I thought that the bacon and halibut were complementary, but were unfortunately spoiled by the presence of the wine. Fok thought it was pretty good, but agreed that some tweaking would improve it (i.e. adding a little sugar and some fish stock to the wine). Overall, I would rate this one a confused 3.6 je ne sais quoi out of 5.