Swordfish: Officially "guilt-free"

Friday, September 30th, 2011 | posted by mike

From a conservation standpoint, managing migratory fish like swordfish, which travel into other countries’ jurisdictions, can be tricky business.

Since 1999 the Magnuson Stevens Act has required that NOAA (National Oceanic and and Atmospheric Administration)determine the status of all U.S. fisheries. ICCAT, (the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas), is the body responsible for international management of  tunas and tuna-like fish such as swordfish. The three main stocks of swordfish are the north Atlantic, south Atlantic and the Mediterranean. According to ICCAT and the NOAA the north Atlantic swordfish stocks are fully rebuilt. Strict management in sizes and quotas and lots of sacrifice by our fisherman have really paid off.

My photographer/wife Lisa is in L.A. shooting a wedding so unfortunately we won’t have a new photo with a new recipe this week. Check out last September’s report on swordfish (with the fantastic green olive anchovy recipe) and here’s another fine recipe for ya, Grilled Greek Swordfish and zucchini with orange, rosemary and feta.

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Festa de Sette Pesci (The Feast of the Seven Fishes)

Friday, December 10th, 2010 | posted by mike

For hundreds of years, La Vigilia di Natale (the Feast of the Seven Fishes) has been an Italian family Christmas Eve tradition. The meal of at least seven different fish and shellfish started in southern Italy, including Sicily, spread to northern Italy and is now enjoyed by Italians, and even some of us non-Italian fish lovers, all over the world.

The significance of this tradition is open to debate—some say seven fishes are served to symbolize the seven sacraments, some others refer to the seven deadly sins, the seven gifts from the holy spirit, or maybe the seven days of creation. Whatever the significance, La Vigilia is a wonderful tradition that ‘s had a strong religious and cultural meaning for a long, long time.

Every family has its own special menu usually handed down through generations. Over the 30+ years I’ve been in business, I’ve noticed a lot of common selections for the feast. Eel (we bring them in live for the holidays) is a biggy since it’s considered such a delicacy in Italy. Sardines are always popular and we get beautiful fresh whole sardines from Portugal. Bacala (salt cod) is a must for a lot of families. Our tiny sweet manila clams are very similar to the Italian vongole and are great in the classic dish Spaghetti con le Vongole. Smelt, squid, octopus are popular also. Often a fancy whole roasted fish or maybe swordfish would be served.

Chef Mario Batali says that La Vigilia is “What Italians do when they say they’re fasting,” which is kind of hysterical because this penitential fasting tradition has been turned into a major feast. For those of us who were born into less delicious culinary traditions, there’s no reason that we can’t have some fun and try our own feast of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve.

Italian food is some of the world’s best and they do amazing things with fish and shellfish. Give it a go, we can help! To get the feast started, here’s my secret stuffed clam recipe.

More great Feast of the Seven Fishes recipes in this excellent article from Saveur.

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Bernardo's Romesco

Friday, September 24th, 2010 | posted by wendy

4 ripe medium tomatoes
1 head garlic + 1 clove
8 T extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c almonds
1/4 c macadamia nuts
1 poblano pepper
1 t kosher salt
2-3 T red wine vinegar
bread to thicken

Heat oven to 375° and roast tomatoes and the entire head of garlic (drizzled with 1 T of the olive oil) for approximately 90 minutes, then remove from oven to cool. (Roast the poblano too, but you may need to take it out of the oven sooner than the tomatoes & garlic.) Peel and core the poblano and set aside.

Heat 1 T of the olive oil in a pan and toast the nuts until golden brown, then set aside to cool.

Place roasted tomatoes, garlic, the clove of fresh (unroasted) garlic, nuts, poblano, salt and remaining olive oil in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add vinegar and pulse a few more times. Add some bread until slightly thick. Taste for seasoning.

Serve over pan-seared, broiled or grilled bluefish, swordfish or other full-flavored fish.

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THE Fish of the Moment...

Friday, September 17th, 2010 | posted by mike

Aside from our month-long celebration of Bluefish, we are also now in the thick of the finest, richest swordfish of the year! If you were to have one swordfish meal a year, now would be prime time.

Why? Because the Atlantic Swordfish stocks have moved north to New England’s colder water from warmer southern waters where they spawn in the winter. They are feeding heavily, fattening up for their winter migration and they are plentiful, closer to shore and easier to catch. Not only are these fish at their fattest and most moist, juicy and delicious, but they are fresher because the fishing trips are shorter—New England swordfishing trips to the Georges Bank and beyond can be long (3-4 weeks). When local swordfish supplies are tight, they’ll import from all over the world. However, right now the migrating fish are plentiful and close to shore so the fisherman can fill their holds and get those beauties to market much faster.

You can also now enjoy eating swordfish knowing the stocks are on the rebound. In the 80s, swordfish populations were on the decline but the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (CCAT) along with our National Marine Fisheries Service have done a great job in rebuilding the stocks. Cuts in total catches and the closing of nursery areas have really helped. The North Atlantic Swordfish fishery is nearly completely rebuilt…a FANTASTIC success story.

So enjoy the season’s finest—grilled, broiled, pan-seared or stir-fried. Now is the moment!

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Grilled Swordfish with Olives and Anchovies (Pesca Spada Con Olive )

Thursday, September 16th, 2010 | posted by wendy

This recipe is courtesy of our friend, Francesca Giarraffa. Serves 4

4 Swordfish steaks
1 c pitted green olives
2 chopped anchovies
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 T truffle oil (optional)
6 T olive oil
4 T chopped parsley
2T chopped savory
salt & pepper

First, place the oil in a medium skillet and get hot Then add the garlic, olives, anchovies and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Now add the truffle oil and hers along with a pinch of pepper. Stir and remove from heat the set aside.

Now take the swordfish steak and drizzle them with some olive oil on both sides. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and place on hot grill. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side (for 1 1/4 inch steaks) to make grill marks. The steaks are done when they are opaque in the center…Remove from the grill and place on a serving platter. Take the sauce you made and pour this over the tops of the steaks and you are ready to serve!

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We've Got the Blues, and that's GOOD!

Friday, September 3rd, 2010 | posted by mike

One of the wonderful things about being in the fish business is that something new is always at its best or coming into season. Soft crabs are just ending. The Massachusetts (commercial) striped bass season just finished. Now, rich New England swordfish are fattening up for their winter migration and will be at their freshest (because they are closer to shore and the fishing trips are shorter), richest and most delicious of the year. Another one of our all-time favorites, the Bluefish, is peaking, and we’re going to be celebrating them all through the month of September.

These rich, flavorful beauties are caught off the New England coast now and, like the swordfish, are pretty much in the midst of a fall feeding frenzy. We’re getting them in whole and SO fresh, it looks like we caught them right here in Ann Arbor!

Bluefish have a reputation of being a “strong” or “fishy-tasting” fish, but in our opinion, the flavor of a FRESH bluefish has a lot of character and depth. It’s not super delicate like a flounder or cod, and certainly handling and perishability is a big issue with bluefish and has contributed to the perception that bluefish is “fishy.” Once a bluefish is filleted, it loses its freshness pretty quickly (one of he reasons we have them shipped in whole).  Since there is a lot of marginal quality bluefish out there, there’s a good chance that a lot of folks have had a poor experience with bluefish. We NEVER buy pre-filleted blues. We buy them whole and fillet them as we need them throughout the day—retaining all the moisture, color, goodness and preserving their wonderful flavor.

This fish, I think, is one of the tastiest. It’s a fish that is great simply broiled but is also great for the grill—firm and moist. We also love to roast them whole and have smaller 3-4 lb fish so you can give it a try. We posted a recipe and a video for a whole bluefish roasted in kosher salt just a few months ago. Bluefish also holds up to lots of great sauces, rubs and salsa. It goes well with acidic tomato or caper-based sauces, mustard sauces, sweet sauces like teriyaki or sweet & sour & spicy…like today’s featured recipe, Blackened Bluefish with Kiwi Citrus glaze. We’ll be featuring bluefish recipes all month. Come on in and try some of the season’s finest.

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Grilling on "The Big Green Egg" at Downtown Home & Garden

Friday, July 16th, 2010 | posted by mike

Our joint grilling demo last Sunday at Downtown Home & Garden was fantastic! A beautiful day on the sidewalk on lovely Ashley Street in front of one of Ann Arbor’s coolest businesses, grilling some of our seafood favorites on The Big Green Egg. I was a bit nervous about doing a demo on a grill that I’ve never used before, but owner, Mark Hodesh assured me that there is nothing to it. And he was right!

This grill is amazing. It’s based on an ancient Asian clay oven kiln like a tandori…thick ceramic that holds in the heat and keeps a steady and easily adjusted temperature. A small amount of natural charcoal keeps heat for many hours because the grill is so thick and well-sealed. Mark started the grill at 9am and it kept a steady temp until 1:30.

Everything that we demonstrated and sampled came out great (and we cooked a big variety). Sardines with course salt & olive oil, barbequed oysters, squid satay with Thai peanut sauce, warm grilled octopus salad, mackerel teriyaki, cedar planked salmon with Irish whiskey maple glaze, swordfish with rosemary-orange marinade, and an herb-wrapped and stuffed whole black sea bass.

We were kickin’ em out and everyone really seemed to enjoy the flavors and learned how easy seafood on the grill can be. The Big Green Egg really impressed everyone too—it was a pleasure to use it and it achieved great results.

One recipe that really seemed to resonate with the crowd was the grilled mackerel. So many people expect the dark fatty little fillets to be too full-flavored or even “fishy.” While mackerel has a good amount of flavor, when it’s been filleted off the bone like we do here at the fishmarket, it’s a rich and buttery fish that holds up to flavorful sauces, rubs and marinade. It’s also inexpensive and sustainable and loaded with the miracle fats, Omega 3s. We used a teriyaki marinade, glazed the fish as it grilled with a teriyaki reduction, and garnished with some scallions and it was a hit! Mackerel is also fantastic with our Cajun rub and a kiwi-citrus glaze or a tomato-caper-balsamic relish…maybe even sweet Swedish mustard dill sauce and grilled new potatoes…the list goes on for this versatile fish, so ask us at the market if you want to try something new!

Big thanks to Mark Hodesh, Margaret Parker and the staff at Downtown Home & Garden for another fun event!

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Grilled Sword Kabobs with Monahan's Teriyaki Marinade

Friday, July 9th, 2010 | posted by wendy

Whisk together and enjoy! This is great on everything from sword to salmon, kingfish, tuna, shrimp, bluefish…anything with a robust flavor. Simply grill the kabobs a few minutes per side on the grill after marinating in teriyaki. Baste while cooking!

1/2 c low-sodium (light) soy sauce
2 T sugar
3 T rice wine vinegar
1.5 t grated fresh ginger
2 cloves minced garlic
1 T sesame oil
1 t hoisin sauce

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Swordfish: Super Star of the Grill!

Friday, July 9th, 2010 | posted by mike

This week’s super star for grill is Swordfish! There really is no finer fish for the grill. It’s firm and meaty, has a nice fat content so it keeps its moisture, and a great taste that holds up to  flavorful rubs, marinades and sauces.

Remember just a few years ago the swordfish fishery was said to be on the brink of collapse? Well, due to solid conservation measures the stocks are on the rebound. We’ve been offering nice fat, rich, delicious “markers” (fish of at least 100 lbs.) at the market. We also use the “trim” to offer very affordable kabobs which are great on the grill with Monahan’s Teriyaki marinade (one of this week’s featured recipes) along with a couple of our other grilled sword favorite recipes. Our own Wendy Williams will share her Greek-style orange-rosemary marinaded sword on a bed of roasted vegetables, orzo and feta, and good friend Francesca Giarraffa is letting us steal her Pesca Spada Con Olive.

Francesca teaches Italian cooking classes in Ann Arbor at Hollanders, Whole Foods and Washtenaw Community College.

Here’s our teriyaki marinade recipe for the kabobs. This marinade is also great with any rich flavorful fish—mackerel, kingfish, salmon, bluefish, etc. We sell this marinade and more, so see you at the Market!

We also hope to see you this Sunday at Downtown Home & Garden for some grilled treats on Hodesh’s BIG GREEN EGG!. We’ll be around between 11am and 1pm, so stop on over!

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Grilled Greek Swordfish and Zucchini with Orange-Rosemary Marinade

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 | posted by wendy

This is a dish I like to serve on a bed of orzo with kalamata olives, citrus zest, herbs and feta…maybe even some roasted red peppers. I have also made this recipe in a conventional oven, roasting the vegetables at 450, but broiling the sword for 4-5 minutes per side.

2 swordfish steaks
1 orange (zest and juice)
a few cloves of garlic
olive oil
lots of fresh rosemary
black pepper and a bit of kosher salt
a few zucchinis and summer squash, (cut lenthwise in slabs or as large chunks on the bias)

Crush and mince garlic on cutting board with a bit of kosher salt, the zest from an orange, several sprigs of Rosemary leaves and black pepper. Rub mixture onto swordfish steaks, then drizzle with olive oil and the juice from the zested orange. Add zucchini and Summer squash to the bowl as well and toss around. Refridgerate for about an hour.

Prepare a hot grill and grill zucchini and summer squash, set aside. Then grill steaks on high heat for 4-5 minutes per side. Serve the grilled vegetables and swordfish over the orzo. I use the remaining marinade (after it has been heated to a boil) as a dressing for the orzo. Great stuff!

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