Fish for Dinner: Sicilian-style Swordfish Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

Sicilian-style swordfish - with onions, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and capers

The Fish for Dinner feature chronicles my education in the ways of fish-cookery. I grew up avoiding fish other than sticks and was well into adulthood before adding the real deal into my diet, usually at a restaurant. The impetus to cook more fish at home comes from joining a sustainable fish program through Hooked on Fish, like a CSA that delivers boxes of farm-fresh produce but with seafood instead. I’ll tell you what we made and how we liked it, plus occasionally a few tips and fishin’ tunes too.

I’m about to commit food blogging blasphemy – posting the same recipe twice. I feel okay about it though because my second shot turned out so much better than the first.

The Occasion: Friday night dinner after a stressful week. All I really wanted was a little food to go with my giant glass of wine. What we ended up with was a flavorful, lick-the-plate meal fit for company.

Why This Recipe Works: Lots of strong flavors at work here, which I like. If you prefer your fish dinners to be mild and subtle, you’re better off selecting something else. This is also fast and easy. From cutting board to dinner table in less than 30 minutes. 

The Playlist: This song has nothing to do with fish dinners – at least I don’t think it does. The Tom Waits songbook is filled with mysterious lyrics, but I love those evocative and only-Tom ditties anyway. 

The Verdict: Zesty, bold, and well worth making time and time again. But don’t worry, I won’t blog about it every time. Why did it turn out so much better this go-round? Using the right kind of olives, for one thing. The recipe calls for oil-cured black olives, but last time I could only find Kalamata. They weren’t bad but they “bled” purple and were a little too juicy. These days many grocery stores have self-serve olive bars; you can often find oil-cured olives there. 

Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

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Sicilian-Style Swordfish
Recipe source: Hooked on Fish sharing a recipe from cucinettaNYC via Food52
Serves 4
 
INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
• ¼ cup pitted oil-cured black olives coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons salted capers, well rinsed and coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup dry white wine, preferably Sicilian
• Crushed red pepper to taste
• 4 6-ounce swordfish steaks
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Basil, roughly torn for garnish

 
DIRECTIONS:

• In a large skillet (one wide enough to hold swordfish in a single layer), heat oil over medium-high heat.
• Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until onion is lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Add sun-dried tomatoes, olives, capers, wine and generous pinch red pepper flakes; stir together. Transfer to bowl.
• Lightly season swordfish with salt and pepper; in a single layer, place fish in skillet.
• Return skillet to medium-high heat, cover and cook for 3 minutes per side.
• When swordfish is cooked through and browned, cover with sauce and warm.
• Sprinkle roughly torn basil and serve. This dish can also be served room temperature.

A nice glass of white wine to accompany the tasty swordfish -- Happy Friday (or any day)!