Roasted Halibut with Red Curry Sweet Potato Sauce

Chef Walter Scheib developed this recipe for Chelsea Clinton, who became a vegetarian while her father was in the White House. "She loved South Asian flavors, and sweet potatoes," he says. "This has both."

• 3 pounds sweet potatoes, roasted and pureed
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 teaspoons grated lemongrass
• 1 tablespoon minced shallots
• 1 to 2 teaspoons red curry paste, depending on how hot you like it
• 1 kaffir lime leaf
• 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
• 4 ounces unsweetened Thai coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 4 6-ounce halibut fillets, skinned
• 4 scallion stalks, cut into a fine julienne

Make sweet potato puree by roasting sweet potatoes whole, with skin on, in a 325-degree oven until soft. Peel and puree until smooth in a food processor. Set aside.

Prepare red curry sweet potato sauce by heating oil in a 4-quart soup pot and sweating ginger, garlic, lemongrass and shallots until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Add curry paste and kaffir leaf. Stir well and cook about 1 minute. Add sweet potato puree and mix well. Cook 1 minute. Add stock, coconut milk, lime juice and honey and simmer for 10 minutes, until sauce coats the back of the ladle lightly. (If you like a thinner sauce, double the amount of stock, coconut milk and lime juice.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place the halibut fillets in a single layer in a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Pour red curry sweet potato sauce over the fillets. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until the fillets flake easily when inserting fork. Place fish on platter, spoon sauce over and garnish with scallion.

Serves 4.

-- Chef Walter Scheib, theamericanchef.com

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