Swordfish with Herbs

Looking for something lighter for the warm weather, we picked up some swordfish from Harmons, my new favorite grocery store. A quick mixture of basil, cilantro, coriander seeds, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper were ground together in a mortar with a little olive oil and lemon. This was smeared on thick, and quickly cooked using a cast iron ridged griddle. Served with a warm red potato salad and the ever-present spring asparagus.

Halibut Wrapped in Potatoes

A very simple recipe. We felt the need for halibut, but if that is not available or too pricey, try orange roughy or cod instead.

2 fillets of halibut
2-3 Yukon Gold potatoes

See? Simple. First, salt and pepper the fish lightly. Slice the potatoes as thin as possible, using a mandolin if available. The thinner and larger each slice, the better - thin enough to see through.


Arrange 5-6 potatoes in a row on a non-stick surface (like a baking mat), overlapping each potato slightly, so that they form a strip as long as a fish fillet. Arrange a second row of potatoes next to the first, overlapping them with each other and with the first row, to create a mat of potato slices. Salt and pepper the potatoes slightly.

Place the fish in the middle of the potato mat, and carefully wrap the potatoes up around the fish. Press firmly to adhere. This took some effort, but if the potatoes are thin enough, it should work after one or two attempts. If there is lots of overlap in the potatoes, it will help.

At that point, it is only a matter of frying the fish in some olive oil, about 4 minutes per side, until the potatoes are nice and crispy, and the fish is cooked. Serve with some sauteed spinach and slivered garlic.

Pepper Crusted Ahi Tuna

A pretty simple recipe. First, stick a skillet on the stove until it is super hot. Rub a small amount of salt and a large amount of cracked pepper all over a good chunk of fresh ahi tuna. Add several tablespoons of sesame oil to the hot skillet, and drop the fish steak. Cook until you can't stand the smoke and you get hungry, about 3-4 minutes per side depending on how thick the cut is, and how tasty (i.e. raw) you want your fish.

Remove from the heat, and cover tightly. Quickly add soy sauce and cooking sherry in a 1 to 3 ratio to the skillet, which will bubble tremendously. Toss in some chopped green onions and cook until the sauce is thickened (only a matter of minutes if the pan is hot). Drain the sauce on the fish and serve immediately with roasted yams, broccoli, and radicchio. Enjoy.

Five Spice Swordfish

With Sweet Potato - Orzo Mash

For the Fish
1-2 good quality fish steaks, such as swordfish
1 T Chinese Five Spice Powder
Black and white sesame seeds
Salt and pepper

Lightly dust both sides of the fish with salt and pepper, followed by the 5 spice powder, and finally evenly with sesame seeds. Set aside at room temperature, and prepare grill to high heat. When grill is hot, drip sesame oil on grill grate, and cook on high for only 1-3 minutes per side, or cooked until the mercury in the swordfish boils off (674.11 °F if you're paying attention).

The orzo and sweet potato mash was made up on the spot, and contained, among other things certainly, orzo, orange sweet potatoes (yams), garlic, onions, five spice powder, and lemonaide. It worked well with the fish, but not necessarily alone - more of a reminder that I have not yet made sweet potato gnocci yet.

Jungle Fish (Cooked in Banana Leaves)

Although any freshwater fish can stand in for jungle fish, I used tilapia.

3 tilapia fillets, cut into tidy triangle shapes
Banana leaves (If you don't have any, cut them fresh off you nearest neighborhood banana tree)

2 shallots
2 T ground tumeric
4 green onions, 2 finely chopped, and 2 in 1 inch sections
3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
2 seeded Thai chillies, finely chopped
1-2 T fish sauce
1ish T sugar
Salt and pepper

Grate the shallots into a bowl, and mix in the remaining ingredients except the green onion sections. Season with salt, pepper, sugar, and fish sauce to taste. Stir fish into marinade, and refregerate until needed. I had my fish marinate for about 2 hours, which worked nicely.

Start grill or oven. Lay out one notebook sized banana leaf, and brush with sesame oil. Mound half the fish in the center of the leaf, and cover with half the green onion sections. Wrap banana leaf up like a package, and wrap in a similar process (brushing with oil) until everything is nicely covered. Secure with toothpicks. Repeat on remaining fish, and place on grill. Cook until done, about 10 - 15 minutes, turning occasionally if your package will not fall apart. Serve over jasmine rice.