Halibut on Portabellos & Spinach, Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce

I grew up helping out in the kitchen, but I didn't really get interested in the culinary arts until after high school. It was the late '90s, and I was on a date in San Diego's Gaslamp District. I remember ordering a glass of wine without showing my (underage) ID and feeling so mature and extravagant. I ordered the halibut and conversed in the awkward faux-adult manner of a girl who's not yet a woman. My beautifully plated meal arrived and in an instant, changed my life. I recall hardly anything about the date but the details of the meal are permanently etched in my mind. Flavors, textures, the magical interplay between succulent portabellos and fresh spinach, the richness of roasted garlic and piquant rosemary. I thought to myself:

I can make this!

Over a decade has passed since that initial spark, and my passion for food has only grown. Cooking has helped me through a lot, and I'm always grateful for what it has brought to my life. It kept my hands busy at times when they might find their way into trouble. Zen-like concentration over a cutting board brings me peace after a tough day. My cooking nourishes and spreads happiness to those I feed. My knowledge and understanding of the food industry's environmental and social impact continues to grow. Cooking has brought me together with a vast community of people who share this passion. It is now a vital and integral part of my life, my future, and my relationship.

When did you begin cooking? What meal started it? How has it shaped your life? Let us know! We're all ears!

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 fillets halibut, individual portions
• salt and cracked pepper
• 1 head spinach, washed, leaves only
• 2 medium portabellos, gills scraped out with spoon, sliced into 1/2" thick slices 
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 head garlic, separated from bulb, but not peeled
• olive oil
• 6-8 baby potatoes, halved or quartered
• rosemary, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup cream or half and half
• 1 shallot sliced
• 1 small tomato, seeded and finely diced

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350'. Rub unpeeled cloves of garlic with olive oil. Place on foil lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in oven, turning occasionally until golden brown and soft. Watch carefully so that the cloves don't explode.
2. Remove garlic and allow to cool to touch. Squeeze garlic out of husks. Smash garlic. 
3. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in sauce pan over medium-high. Add shallot and roasted garlic. Saute 5-10 minutes until golden and fragrant. 
4. Preheat oven to 400'. toss cut potatoes in 1 Tbsp olive oil, salt, cracked pepper and rosemary. Place on foil lined baking sheet.
5. Add wine, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Reduce heat to low, add cream, whisking gently so that the cream doesn't coagulate from too much heat. Lightly simmer, stirring often.
6. Optional: use an immersion blender to quickly puree sauce in on/off turns. (You don't want to whip it). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Bake potatoes for 20 minutes or until lightly browned and tender (while you do everything else) 
8. Wilt spinach in pan. Set aside.
9. Melt butter in large pan. Add mushrooms, saute over medium until soft and tender about 10-15 minutes. Keep warm.
10. Pat fillets dry. Salt and pepper generously. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to a large pan and heat over high. When oil is hot, add fish, and cook until lightly golden on the bottom about 1-2 minutes. Flip and cook other side another 2 minutes. 
11. Gently transfer fish to a baking sheet or baking pan. Bake the rest of the way through - another 5-6 minutes. NOTE: the potatoes should be just about done at this point, so you can reduce heat to 350 to quickly finish them while the fish cooks simultaneously.
12. Plate: place spinach on plate, top with mushrooms, top with halibut. Drizzle sauce around. Add potatoes. Garnish with diced tomatoes.