For years, I’ve been avoiding buying swordfish because I thought it was threatened. But I was at the store, and they had frozen steaks for about half the price of halibut. And doing a little research, it seems populations are recovered or recovering. So there’s grilled swordfish for dinner tonight.
I have pickapeppa sauce, Tiger sauce, Kikkoman stir-fry sauce, soy sauce, varios hot sauces, fresh garlic, jarred minced garlic, garlic powder, green onion, onion powder, dehydrated onions, jarred ‘fresh’ chives, salt, pepper, I think I have a lemon, dried basil, rosemary off of the bushes out front, dried dill, dried tarragon, paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, and I-don’t-know-what-else. I seem to be out of teriyaki sauce, and a quick search did not turn up any capers.
Also, I’ve never grilled fish.
So with the supplies on-hand, what’s a good marinade?
Don’t overdo the marinade and spices with swordfish. It is a heartier meet than whitefish but still has a delicate flavor that will be overmasked by too much spice. A lot of people like teriyaki sauce on swordfish steaks but I’ve never really been a fan since swordfish flesh is already a little sweet. I would personally mix a little dill and paprika into some avacado oil and just brush it on a few minutes prior to grilling. You should grill at medium to high temperature to about 5-6 minutes per side until the flesh starts to flake, then finish with a little melted butter, lemon juice, and fresh ground pepper and/or salt. I’d serve over a rice pilaf with the rosemary or cumin (not both) and garlic and serve with some grilled asparagus or squash of some kind on the side, and dress with a rosemary sprig, chopped green onion, and some capers (might toss them in a pan to briefly sauté just to warm them up). Serve with a crisp white wine or lager (or mineral water if you abstain) and enjoy.
I like the flavor of swordfish so I never marinate it. If anything I’d brush it with garlic infused oil and sprinkle other spices over that. I do know that many people will use lemon juice. It’s also a good fish for blackening if you have a cast iron pan to put on the grill.
It’s a good fish for grilling because of it’s firm dense texture. If you have a fine mesh grate for your grill use that, otherwise just be careful flipping it, and make sure to oil the grate before you start so it doesn’t stick. Definitely use high heat to cook it quickly on each side then move it to a cooler part of the grill if you like it well done all the way through.
Swordfish population decline was always overblown. The largest fish are gone, they used to catch the ones that weighed 500 hundred pounds and up with harpoons. A steak from those fish was as big as a dinner plate. When those monsters were gone there was a panic, but now smaller ones are caught on lines and along with basic preservation techniques the population isn’t suffering.
I don’t have avocado oil, so I’ll have to use olive oil. I have Trader Giotto’s, which is my ‘everyday’ olive oil, and some nice ‘green-tasting’ one from California Olive Ranch. Dill and paprika sounds good. Do you put the butter and lemon juice on while it’s still on the grill? Or do you serve it with the fish?
I don’t have much chicken stock, and I don’t want to use the oven. (It heats up the house.) I think I have a box of couscous in the cupboard, though.
Olive oil is fine; you’re not grilling for long enough to smoke it off; just keep the temperature a little lower (i.e. don’t try to sear the fish). Lemon and butter right after it comes off the grill; you basically want kind of a dressing. Or you can just do what wolfman suggests and grill with salt and pepper, which is good too. Couscous is as good or better than pilaf, actually; just mix in some cumin and pepper (and maybe the cayenne if you that) and drizzle a tiny pit of olive oil on top. You could actually mix capers in with it, or dried fruit. (craisins, figs, dates, et cetera).
Color me jealous; I’m just eating left over paprikash over rice by myself.
I think the couscous has currants in it. As for the fish, there’s a recipe on the bag the fish came in. Mince some garlic and fresh rosemary, and grate some lemon rind. Press it into one side of the fish. Refrigerate for an hour. Spray the heated grill with non-stick spray, brush the fish with lemon juice and grind on some pepper, and grill the fish on medium-high heat for five minutes. Turn the fish and top with minced sin-dried tomatoes, and cook for about five more minutes.
I like the asparagus idea. I’ve never grilled it, but I assume you just brush them with oil and sprinkle with a little salt.
How timely is thi s for me…Sprouts has had swordfish on sale and I put it off because I wasn’t sure what to do with it.
Huge pieces…and cut awfully thick. What’s the best thickness to get it done properly? I assume it’s not like tuna that you want much less done inside than out.
Yes, you don’t really want it to be undercooked. Unlike salmon or yellowfin, the raw flesh is not very delicate, so you want to get it sufficiently cooked that it starts to flake apart. Steaks should be 1 to 1.5 inches thick; more than that and you’ll end up overcooking the outside to get the inside beyond rare. If it is too thick I’d just cut it up and make kabobs, which swordfish flesh is really ideal for. One of my favorite restaurants used to offer swordfish kalamaki when the market price was favorable.
We got some like that at Sprouts. I plan to slice it to half the provided thickness and probably just cook it for 2-3 minutes per side.
I’ll cook mine on a charcoal grill in this type of pan. I’ll probably put a little bit of wood chips on the coals to get a light smoke flavor. The pan will get a light brush of olive oil, and the fish will be lightly brushed with melted butter on both sides, then sprinkled with lemon pepper. Cooked just enough to not be too rare – the easiest and quickest way to make fish tough and dry is to cook it too long.
I used the recipe on the back of the bag. It was good, but I should have used more sun-dried tomatoes and more rosemary. I think it would have been better, had I followed Stranger On A Train’s suggestions. The couscous was bland. I put Siracha on mine. (Mrs. L.A. didn’t have any.) And my first attempt at grilling asparagus turned out well. I have two more swordfish steaks in the freezer.
I must be using a higher heat, because that’s too, too much. Use a thermometer. Swordfish, 125°. Tuna 120°. For a 1" steak on the grill, it’s 60 seconds, turn 90°, 60 seconds, flip, 60 seconds, turn 90°, 60 seconds, check temperature and finish with indirect heat until done. 4 minutes on charcoal is usually enough.
Delicious success. Asked at the meat counter if they had any recommendations for preparation, and she said salt/pepper ( which was my plan) and thyme ( which was not).
Cut them in half so they were about 7/8" thick. Spritzed with oil, salted/peppered and then sprinkled with dried thyme. They sat like that for maybe 30 minutes while I futzed around and got the charcoal going.
Grilled on an oiled grill over very hot coals, just flipped twice to get marks going opposite ways. Probably 3 min each flip.
Got a nice light brown carmelization on one side, which I didn’t expect.
Upon tasting, I was hooked. Very firm and meaty; even though I may have overdone it a bit, it wasn’t dry. Meat girl said it resembled pork, and I have to agree, mostly in texture but also partially in flavor. Not to scare anybody off with my decription, but it did resemble a fatty cut of pork crossed with grilled tuna…in a good way?
In short, loved it and recommend if you like more robust fish.
Any concerns on the Mercury level ? I love swordfish (all fish, really) but I remember reading somewhere that it shouldn’t be eaten very often because of that…
As an apex predator, swordfish do tend to concentrate mercury which is residual in tissue, but unless you are pregnant, unless you are eating swordfish or tuna every day the research indicates that it isn’t not a major health concern.
