I don’t know why I have always been afraid of
swordfish; must be the long razor-esque nose and the fact that as a kid my
step-father used to always order it at fancy restaurants – an automatic
repellant for a teenage rebel who wants nothing to do with the culinary choices
her parents make.
A week ago, though, I inherited two fat swordfish
steaks from a friend who had overbought the amount of fish for his Saturday
college football party and was heading out of town, therefore looking for
someone who might do some good with the leftovers rather than throwing them out
as waste.
I decided to treat them like regular old steaks
and was quite pleased with the results, learning that a quick sear and a
respect for the fat layer surrounding its flaky girth was the best way to prepare the meat. With no adornments, I laid the steak on a piece of foil
in the hot broiler for three minutes per side. Then I took one pat of butter,
mixed it with some Italian spices from my favorite spice store, and set a
dollop of the compound whip on top of the hot steak and let it melt naturally and ooze over the edges. Three collard leaves
chopped and sautéed in olive oil and a fourth cup of diced onion was the only
side dish I needed. A squeeze of Meyer lemon across the entire dish provided a last touch panache that tied the whole meal together with an undertone of blended tang.
Salty, savory and hearty, the dish changed my mind about
swordfish and the ability of white fish in general to be dense, rich and
comforting.
No comments:
Post a Comment