Sesame Maple Glazed Halibut with Peameal Bacon

My third Canadian inspired dish this week features peameal bacon! Or as everyone else calls it, Canadian Bacon! I am ok if the rest of the world calls it Canadian bacon, as I am proud to represent a more flavourful and healthier  alternative than the bacon we normally use.

Now what is better than fried peameal? Fried peameal with a maple syrup glaze, of course! Let me tell you, these two are a match made in Heaven!

The saltiness of the peameal and the sweetness of the maple and onion creates this wonderful symphony in your mouth! I added sesame oil to tone down the maple slightly so it didn’t taste too sweet and I must say they make quite the pair!

I chose Halibut, because it’s such an easy to fish to cook with. It’s flakey, mild in taste and not to mention, also healthy for you. You could easily swap it for a salmon, or any other mild tasting fish. I managed to score the last piece of Wild Pacific Halibut at the grocery store to execute this dish.

To accompany the my fish I created a mixed veggie succotash variation with a few spices, as well as polenta infused with peameal bacon.

Scroll down for the recipe of all three dishes.

Polenta

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of polenta
• 3 cups of water
• 1/2 cup of chopped sautéed peameal bacon
• 3/4 tablespoon of salt
• 1/2 tablespoon of dried oregano
• 3/4 tablespoon of onion powder
• 3/4 tablespoon of garlic powder

Directions:

1. On high temperature, add cold water and polenta in a pot, stirring consistently.
2. Once it begins to thicken, add the rest of the ingredients.
3. The polenta should be ready in 5-7 minutes, but stir continuously until it has reached your desired thickness.

Succotash

This is my own variation, basically I added whatever ingredients I found in my kitchen.

Ingredients:

• 1 corn on the cob (kernels are sliced off)
• 1 zucchini
• 1 egglpant
• 1 carrot
• 2 celery sticks
• 1/2 a yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• a few sprigs of fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Heat pan on medium high and add olive oil. Once pan is heated add the onions, sauté until they start to become translucent.
2. Add the other vegetables and sauté for about 7 minutes (the veggies have slightly softened).
3. Add salt, pepper and dried oregano, stir into veggies.
4. Add a few sprigs of fresh parsley once the veggies have cooked thoroughly.

 Sesame Maple Glazed Halibut with Peameal Bacon Bits

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces of Wild Pacific Halibut
• 1/2 cup of sautéed peameal bacon.
• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon of maple syrup
• 1/2 a white onion (chopped)
• 1 teaspoon of chili flakes (optional)
• a dash of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 375 (I start with Bake and then switch it to Convention Roast halfway to help crisp the bacon)
2. In a baking pan, add parchment paper at the bottom and drizzle a little olive oil on the bottom and spread it around.
3. Place the halibut into the pan and season with salt, pepper and chili flakes.
4. Set the stove on medium and in a small frying pan add the sesame oil.
5. Once the oil has heated, add the maple syrup and the onions.
6. After about 5 minutes add the peameal bacon bits.
7. Let it simmer for 2 minutes, then pour the glaze over the halibut.
8. Bake in the oven for about 7 minutes, halfway through change the oven to convention roast to finish off the fish and crisp up the bacon for another 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Antonietta xo