Porcini Dusted Halibut
by Scott Szekretar
of H2O

4 - 7 oz. halibut fillets
2 ozs. dried porcini mushrooms
2 zucchinis
1 large onion
flour for breading
oil for frying
salt and pepper to taste

Aioli:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 ozs. black
balsamic vinegar
2 ozs. truffle oil

Grind dried porcinis to dust in a spice grinder.
Season halibut with salt, then cover liberally with porcini dust.
Pan sear fish on both sides, then finish in a 350 degree oven
until done.

While fish cooks, cut zucchini lengthwise and trim ends until white interior is exposed.
Slice on a bias, scoring 3/4 of the way through so slices remain attached on the skin side.
Grill with salt, pepper and oil on the sliced side.
Flip and cook until soft.

For the aioli, whisk mayonnaise with balsamic vinegar. Slowly drizzle in truffle oil as you whisk to keep the emulsion intact.

Use slicing machine to slice onions into thin rings.
Dredge in all-purpose flour until very dry.
Shake off excess and deep fry until crispy.

To assemble, squeeze or drizzle aioli onto plate.
Fan a zucchini half into a circle and place in
the middle.Place the fish on top, and stack fried onions as high as possible.Garnish with fresh chopped chives.

Scott Szekretar rose through the ranks of the restaurant business quite literally. He began washing dishes at Maguire’s on Fire Island at the age of 14. He made executive chef just eleven years later, but his biggest change in altitude, so to speak, were the winters he spent working in the ski resorts of Vail, Colorado. Somewhere between cooking on the beach and shucking oysters in the mountains, Scott found the time to graduate from the Culinary Institute of America. The Mineola native settled on Long Island permanently, working at Red Bar & Restaurant and Coco’s before becoming a saute cook at Tellers Chophouse in 2002. He was promoted to chef de cuisine shortly after, and then to executive chef at H20, another of the Bohlsen family’s restaurants, in 2004. Prepared for his seafooding post by years of beachfront experience, Scott cooks up New England style dishes with touches drawn from the skilled chefs he has worked with. He prides himself on H20’s three-course Wednesday Night Wine Dinners. He has hosted over 150 of these wine pairing wonders, never repeating a recipe in more than three years. He has started meals with everything from lobster mushroom risotto to Prince Edward Island mussel bisque, offered both fish and meat entrees like poppy-crusted wild striped bass or petit filet mignon, and ended with confections like steamed banana baba with rum syrup and milk chocolate bread pudding. With seemingly no end to his repertoire of brilliant combinations, Scott is a creative force to be reckoned with and most certainly enjoyed and appreciated.

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