Before starring on the hit ABC show Scandal, Darby Stanchfield grew up fishing with her family in Alaska.” My dad was a commercial fisherman,” she tells Us of how she learned the skill, which she still practices whenever she visits. “My family went to Kodiak last summer, and we caught 700 pounds of fish in two days. I’m the best fisherman of the family — let me tell you!”
Want proof? Watch the Inside My Kitchen video above to see her cook halibut she caught herself.
Despite her busy schedule, she still loves to cook the majority of her own meals at home, which often means pulling out a family recipe from her back pocket. Stanchfield loves to make this particular dish with whichever type of white fish she has on hand. (Right now, she has quite the selection of filets in her freezer from last year’s excursion.) One other homegrown element to her cooking: a hefty dose of juice from the lemon trees she cultivates in her yard.
Typically, she’ll serve the fish with some sprouted brown rice, but you could also pair it with another Stanchfield favorite: a heaping, vegetable-packed green salad.
Get the recipe below:
Baked Halibut with Lemon Thyme Pepita Sauce & Artichokes
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 lb of halibut, cut up in individual portions (divided into four portions)
1 can of artichokes (preferably canned in water, quartered)
1 tbsp capers
1 cup sprouted brown basmati rice
Lemon Thyme Pepita Sauce:
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds or pepitas
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp lemon thyme
Juice from 1 whole lemon (Meyer, if possible)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 lemon wedges for garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and put the rice on.
Blend all of the ingredients for the Lemon Pepita Sauce with a hand blender or a food processor.
Cook the rice in two cups water until tender (about 30 minutes), then set aside, with lid covered.
In a glass pan, arrange the portions of halibut so they don’t overlap. Drain the artichokes and add 3/4 of the artichokes around the halibut. Coat each piece of halibut with a liberal amount of sauce, top and bottom. Top with capers. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes for thinner pieces of halibut. For thicker pieces, 20 minutes. Check with the fish with a fork. If it separates easily, it’s done.
Plate the halibut piece on a portion of cooked rice. Add artichokes and capers. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
