Olive-Oil Poached Halibut

I've been wanting to try this technique ever since I had an olive-oil poached bass at French Laundry when Jason and I ate there over a year ago. The tv show "Top Chef" is one of my guilty pleasures, and Lia's winning olive-oil poached shrimp gave my memory a nudge, so I decided to try it out.

While I'm no Thomas Keller, I thought this was a pretty easy way to cook a delicious piece of fish, and I plan on trying it again with other fish in the future. Cooking the fish is dead simple -- just use a small heavy pot, fill it with enough olive oil (plus a few peppercorns and garlic cloves, or whatever suits your fancy) to just cover the fish, and hold it at a low simmer until it has an internal temperature of 140 degrees. Next time, I'm going to see if I can do this in the oven -- if I can hold the oil itself at just about 140 degrees (after bringing it up to a boil to kill any bacteria that might be hanging around, of course) then I could cook the fish for ages and it wouldn't dry out. On my stovetop, though, there's no way I can get down to 140 degrees -- our burners just run too hot for that, even at the lowest setting.

This salad goes great with the fish, or any light summer meal. To make the salad, simply chop one ripe avocado, one medium cucumber, four small tomatoes, and one half of a medium-sized red onion and toss together with a light vinaigrette. I use a light red wine vinaigrette with a little lemon -- combine a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon in a small bowl, then whisk in three tablespoons of olive oil until the mixture forms an emulsion. You'll have enough of the salad for about four servings.