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SAUTÉED SURF PERCH

Follow the directions for sautéing, page 10.

Swordfish

This continues to hold its place among the most popular fish marketed in the United States. Swordfish is caught on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in most coastal waters around the world. For years we have imported it in large quantities, sometimes bringing in more poundage than is caught in American waters. Swordfish is a fine game fish and is eagerly sought by anglers.

The meat of the fish is firm, oily, and well flavored. It is sold mainly in steaks, sometimes in fillets. Usually it is served broiled with a variety of sauces, but it is also often baked or sautéed. The flesh tends to be dry if not basted often.

BROILED SWORDFISH

Swordfish steaks are large and will usually serve several people. The size of the steak – it can be cut from 1/2 to 2 inches thick – will depend on the number of servings you wish.

Brush the fish well with butter or oil and place it on an oiled rack about 2 inches from the flame. Broil according to the Canadian cooking theory (pages 9–10), basting with more butter or oil during the cooking process, and turning once. Be careful not to let the flesh become too dry.

Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve with lemon wedges, lemon butter, tarragon butter, parsley butter, or beurre noisette (pages 31–33). Excellent accompaniments are sautéed potatoes and a tart salad, such as celery in French dressing made with plenty of dry mustard. Cold broiled swordfish, served with a mayonnaise, is a great delicacy.

VARIATIONS

1. Baste the fish with a mixture of melted butter, white wine, and dried or fresh tarragon.

2. Marinate the fish for 1 hour in a mixture of lemon juice, chopped onion, olive oil, and basil. Baste with this sauce while broiling. Season and serve with crisp julienne potatoes and slices of raw onion and cucumber in vinaigrette sauce (page 36).

PLANKED SWORDFISH STEAKS

This is a festive dish for a dinner party.

Select 1 or 2 large steaks – about 5 to 6 pounds – for 6 people. Broil them as above, but remove them just before they are done. Arrange them on a hot hickory or oak plank and surround with a border of duchess potatoes and vegetables, as follows:

Mash or puree 8 large boiled or baked potatoes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper; add 1/4 pound butter and the yolks of 3 eggs beaten with a little cream. The potatoes must be stiff enough to force through a pastry tube. Using the large rosette end of the tube, make a border of the potatoes around the edge of the plank. Then make strips, like spokes, of the potatoes running from the fish in the center out to the potato border. Fill the spaces between the spokes with green peas, julienne beets, tiny grilled tomatoes, and snap beans.

Sprinkle the top of the whole plank with paprika, dot with butter, season with salt and pepper, and run it under the broiler flame to brown slightly. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

A sweet-sour cucumber salad is delicious with this, and needless to say, the addition of some good chilled white wine will make this dinner party one your guests will never forget.

BARBECUED SWORDFISH STEAK

This is an outstanding fish dish when cooked over charcoal and basted with a good tart sauce. But it’s almost as good cooked indoors as outdoors.

Use your own special barbecue sauce, or try this one:

Barbecue Sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 tablespoons tomato sauce or catsup

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 teaspoon finely powdered oregano

1/2 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix the ingredients together and soak the swordfish steak in it for 2 hours before cooking. Brush or baste the fish with the sauce during the broiling. Serve with braised kidney beans, a hearty salad of greens, tomatoes, and onion rings, and a red wine.

SWORDFISH STEAK WITH PEPPER

2-inch-thick steak

Flour

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Oil

Butter

Salt

1/4