Saturday, July 31, 2010

Swordfish with Peperonata

When we received some fresh, colorful peppers from our CSA last week, I knew how I wanted to use them. They were mostly sweet peppers in red, orange, and pale yellow or almost white, and there were some jalapenos too. My plan was to cook them slowly with onion and tomato to make a peperonata to serve on swordfish like I saw in Eating Local. I warned you I’d be using this book a lot. Now, about that swordfish. I admit I’m a worrier when it comes to buying fish. I always check in with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch list before making a purchase. The news changes from time to time, and I like to find out specifically which fish from which sources are the best options. As it happened, on the day I was planning to shop for swordfish, I learned about the Whole Foods MSC-Certified harpoon-caught swordfish program, and you can read about it here and here. There’s a short season for this type of sustainably caught swordfish, and I heard about it just in time. Also, on the topic of choosing fish responsibly, Chef Rick Moonen recently offered a list of five fish that deserve a break in the 5@5 post on Eatocracy. One of his recommendations was wild-caught swordfish.

In Eating Local, the swordfish is grilled, but I was too lazy to cook outside in the heat and just seared ours on the stove. The peperonata was started by sauteing onion and garlic in a large skillet over low heat. Grated tomato was added and allowed to cook for five minutes. Then, sliced bell peppers, and in my case sliced jalapenos as well, were added with some red pepper flakes. The skillet was covered, and everything simmered gently for about 25 minutes. Capers and spoonful of white wine vinegar were added, and it was seasoned with salt and pepper. Some peperonata was scooped onto each piece of swordfish and topped with basil.

A nice mix of cooked peppers is a happy sight for me, but this assemblage of colors and flavors worked especially well. There was layered flavor with some sweetness, some spice, and then the acidity of the vinegar and capers plus the added heat from the pepper flakes. Swordfish is a sturdy, mild fish that carries other robust flavors well, and the peperonata worked perfectly with it.



24 comments:

  1. Lisa, this looks awesome! I love the especially the last photo, perfect!

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  2. Have also seen the Whole Foods swordfish... Seeing your pics makes me want to possibly give it a try! My daughters and I luv your blog. We included you on a list of blogs we recently discovered and want to recommend! Thanx for a great blog!

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  3. I am buying the book now, it's been on my wish list. Also, love the mixed peppers on the swordfish, a great summer dish!

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  4. Magnificent! That is a dish for me. Refined.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  5. Looks great! Wonderful use of local, seasonal produce.

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  6. I love recipes like this the flavors are so fresh, its just so beautiful plated. Just about perfect, in fact.

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  7. I just found two bags of frozen peppers from last summer! I need to use them up.

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  8. The peppers make a perfect accompaniment to the swordfish.

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  9. Peperonata is so tasty...I can't believe I've never made it before! I love all the trouble you went to to find out whether the swordfish was a good buy or not. More people should think like you...I think our world would be in a much better state if they did.

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  10. Lovely dish. Very seasonal and pretty.
    Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.
    *kisses* HH

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  11. Mmm, this looks delicious! I haven't had much exposure to swordfish though, what's it like? Is it more buttery, or more meaty?

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  12. Roxan: Swordfish is firm and can easily become dry if overcooked. It's not a buttery kind of fish, more meaty I suppose, and the flavor is mild. It's great on the grill too.

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  13. What a great way to use your beautiful peppers! I'm on a fish kick right now and looking for different ways to jazz it up - I hadn't thought of peperonata. Love it.

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  14. swordfish is seafood and therefore unappealing to me (golly, it makes me sad to type that), but that peperonata looks and sounds delicious. it'd be great on other, more appealing meats, no? :)

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  15. It's been a while since I had sword fish :)
    Sauce sounds delicious Lisa.

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  16. Lisa, this sword fish dish looks delicious...the peppers sauce on it look fabulous :-)

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  17. Wow this looks like a perfect topping on swordfish. We generally make fish plain, I mean traditionally. But this one looks so good! I will absolutely try it as we love the combination of tomatoes, peppers, onion and garlic.

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  18. Ah, the famous sustainable, harpoon-caught swordfish. I'm definitely going to have to stop by Whole Foods for some to try.

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  19. Me too! I am going to check this out the next time I am in WHFS. :D

    Your fish dish...so glorious.

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  20. I love the peppers, tomatoes and onions topping sauce atop the grilled fish. Such a colourful and yummy looking dish :)

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  21. Those peppers are beautiful, especially the pale one. I can't even remember the last time I purchased fresh fish and this dish shows me what I'm missing!

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  22. What a perfect way to enjoy those peppers -yum! I'm going to save the link for the sustainable fish too - thanks :)

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  23. those colorful peppers look mouthwatering :)
    beautiful dish!

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