Halibut Baked with Cheese Sauce

I served this with a Pasta Primavera. The halibut was caught, dressed and vacuum packed last summer on the Kenai Peninsula.

• 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups freshly shredded Monterey Jack
• 1 cup Best Foods Mayonnaise (Must be real Mayonnaise)
• 1 teaspoon Frank's Louisiana hot pepper sauce
• 4 halibut fillets, about 8 ounces each
• Lemon Pepper
• Granulated or powdered garlic without salt
• 1 lemon, halved
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• Paprika
• 1 stick of cold butter, cut into 8 slices

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a small skillet, over medium heat, put 1 tablespoon butter or oil. Add onion and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Transfer onions to a large bowl and spread them out so they can cool slightly.

To the bowl, add freshly shredded Monterey Jack cheese (freshly shredded cheese melts much better than shredded cheese in packages), mayonnaise, hot pepper sauce and 1/2 teaspoon House Seasoning (click for note). Mix well and set aside.

Grease well (I use Pam) a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Liberally sprinkle fish with Lemon Pepper on both sides of the fillets. Lightly sprinkle with garlic powder on both sides of the fillets. Place fish in the Pam sprayed baking dish and squeeze the juice of the lemon over fillets then liberally sprinkle fillets with red pepper flakes. Top each fish fillet with a slice of butter.

Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes in preheated 350°oven or until fish is almost done; the time will depend on the thickness of your fish. Remove dish from oven and cover each fillet with 1/2 cup of the cheese mixture. Sprinkle the tops of the cheese mixture with Paprika. Return to oven and bake until cheese melts and has nicely browned tops, about 8 to 10 minutes. Do not over brown the fillets, as then the fish may also be over cooked.

Serves: 4

Recipe from www.inmamaskitchen.com

Contributor: Sandy Camp

Note: Sandy combines lemon pepper and garlic powder to make her own seasoning:

• 1 1/4 cups Lemon Pepper
• 1/4 cup garlic powder

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