Top Chef Challenge: Chris Cosentino’s Perfect Fish Fillet

By Kate Krader

The Rules: Prepare a sensational dish with a five-ingredient market basket selected by F&W, a basic pantry, up to two extra ingredients of the chef’s choosing and only 45 minutes cooking time.

Halibut with Braised Romaine and Cumin Brown Butter

Giving Top Chef Masters winner Chris Cosentino random animal parts, like hearts and brains, isn’t a challenge—that’s what the chef of San Francisco’s Incanto is known for. So F&W gave him a bigger test: halibut. To keep the fish moist (he finds it dry), Cosentino sears it in cumin-spiked brown butter. “Brown butter makes everything explode with flavor,” he says. He serves the fish with colorful sautéed lettuce and radishes. Did he learn to cook those vegetables, usually eaten raw, as a quick fix on Top Chef? Nope. “It’s a classic French technique,” says Cosentino. “I cook them all the time.”