Another Gloucester summer in the books and as I look back I realized I’ve hardly had any swordfish! Also with Week 1 of the NFL season looming, I needed something worthy of opening day for my beloved New England Patriots. Fisherman’s Wharf Gloucester had fresh swordfish at their drive up seafood market, so I grabbed two big steaks for the game.
My first instinct would be to grill the swordfish, or pan roast it. However I’ve learned with my small house and bad airflow, I’ll save myself a lot of cleanup and odor if I bake it instead. It won’t look as pretty, or have killer crust or grill marks, but I find baked swordfish comes out delicious. Baking the swordfish will also require less attention while I focus on the side dish, the cocktails, and the first game of the season.
Swordfish is very meaty in texture, recently I heard someone call it the “steak of the sea” which gave me the idea to serve it with a chimichurri type sauce. Basically a rough cut pesto with a brighter and much more citrusy flavor to contrast with the fish. I’ll will be making the sauce with adjustments to make it more FODMAP-friendly, so no fresh garlic or spicy chillies.
The Recipe: Baked Swordfish with Cilantro-Mint Chimichurri
Ingredients:
- 2 Swordfish steaks
- 1 bunch each of: Fresh Cilantro, Italian Parsley, Mint
- Lemon and Lime: zest and 1/2 the juice
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and/or Garlic infused oil
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and/or Garlic infused oil
- 1 tsp. Red Wine Vinegar
Procedure:
- Pre-heat oven to 425F. Rinse swordfish steaks and pat dry. Line a baking sheet with parchment (I lay down foil first to make clean up easier) and season swordfish with salt, pepper and olive oil.
- Place in oven for about 15 minutes or until fully cooked.
- For the Chimichurri, have all your herbs washed and dried, removing the thick stems. You will not need all the herbs, but this allows you to adjust the flavor to your liking.
- Add your preferred ratio of herbs and the citrus zest, salt and pepper to a food processor and pulse into a chunky paste, add olive oil and juice and pulse until the mixture starts to emulsify.
- Give it a taste before you decide on adding the vinegar. Pour into a bowl and let it steep until the fish is ready.
- Drizzle the swordfish with the chimichurri and serve.
Notice how I did not trim the swordfish steaks before cooking. You can remove the skin and the bloodline before cooking, but I have found that it protects the swordfish from overcooking. Swordfish is lean and the only bit of fat on the steak is right at the skin, by leaving the steaks intact the fish does not dry out.
When it’s done you just trim off the skin and darker portions to make a nice presentation. I don’t eat the darker meat because it can be very strong tasting but I do save that strip of meat next to the skin as a treat for myself – it’s sweet and juicy but usually missing from the fish if you order from a restaurant.
Grilling gets all the glory, but I really like how swordfish can turn out from the oven. And while the Patriots disappointed Week 1, this delicious baked swordfish was a real winner. As an added bonus, I made way too much chimichurri, so I saved most of it in the fridge and used it as a topping/condiment.
Buying Seafood 