Grilled Halibut w/pesto potatoes (with pics)

I had some halibut shipped to me from Alaska and decided to do it on the grill. I grilled it and topped it with fresh homemade salsa and served it with grilled pesto potatoes. This is a simple dish, but then again, I am a simple kind of cook.

Started with a couple of pieces of skin-on halibut. One of them is really thick (2 inches), so I had to make sure that I cooked it longer than the other one.


I cut up the potatoes and shook them up in a ziploc back with the pesto.


I made some salsa earlier in the day and kept it chilled in the fridge. Simple recipe - tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, olive oil, garlic, lime juice, and salt and pepper. You can't go wrong if you use good fresh ingredients.


I got the grill real hot: 800 degrees and then turned the heat off on one side. I just wanted a really hot grill for some really nice grill marks. For this, I put the fish down skin-side up.


Then I flipped the fish after just about two minutes. I made a 90 degree turn after 1 minute to get the criss-cross pattern. This is not necessary, and is risky. I managed to pull it off, today (the hot grill helped the fish release).


I pulled the fish, after cooking it longer on the skin-side down. Remember, I had turned off the heat under the fish earlier, so I was finishing it on indirect heat. The skin adhered to the grill, so I just slid a spatula under the fish and pulled it off.


Here it is after I pulled it:


Simple dish, but it was excellent.