pesce spada alla grigilia con la salsa di giovanna

or in other words, grilled swordfish with salsa di giovanna. sounds fancy huh. while at borders last month perusing as usual amongst the food shelves, i came across jamie oliver's jamie's italy. i have always admired his brash, casual style and wholeheartedly believe in his non-measuring ways. on his late food network show, he tore up herbs by the handful, added "gulps" of olive oil, and just "mashes 'em up." no measurements, or rarely. i cook the same way. i think there's nothing wrong with a few extra garlic cloves, extra swirls of olive oil, and big doses of herbs. i'm into bigger, bolder flavor. and cooking this way forces you to cook by your senses, to experiment with ingredients, and to trust your tastebuds. it's also just so much more fun than following a recipe line by line. it's also a lot faster.

so i picked up oliver's book on amazon (a lot less expensive for a hardback copy) and received it right before my hawaii trip (yes, i'm posting those pics up soon). i've been meaning to get back into italian cuisine for a while now. i think i had just overloaded on pasta over the years and needed a hiatus - and inspiration. oliver's book is chock full of appealing food porn and he has some great storytelling mixed in with the recipes, which are all relatively simple to make and written in his unique, carefree style.

i swung by trader joe's tonite and found some frozen swordfish steaks for $6.99/lb. i immediately grabbed a package from the freezer desparate to relive my first dinner in hawaii last week. shimi's boyfriend, bill, grilled several swordfish steaks marinated in italian dressing and shimi tossed up a salad with fresh avocado, feta, and tomatoes as well as a spicy couscous. it was simply amazing. so tonite's meal is dedicated to shimi and bill in memory of a fantastic hawaiian-fresh meal and who inspired me to face my amatuer fish phobia head on!

after thumbing through oliver's book, i found a swordfish recipe that was very simple in its ingredient list and sounded tasty. scott was on his way over so i asked him to pick up a couple things i didn't have. and without further ado... let's whip up some swordfish!

i first threw some water on the stove to prepare a cup of dry couscous (equals 5 servings according to the box) and finished it up according to directions. i also diced one brown onion and caramelized it in a small frying pan. once done, that was mixed into the fluffed couscous. an easy way to doctor up the usual dry, neutral-flavored couscous, caramelized onions can add both a savory sweetness and moisture to the grains. i highly recommend. you can also add some fresh chopped herbs like rosemary or thyme to give it more punch. or you can be like shimi and add a bit too much spicy hot pepper. =)

while that was going on, i tossed a handful of baby broccoli in olive oil, salt and pepper and threw that into the toaster oven at 450* until just starting to brown. the steaks were defrosted in the microwave, drained and seasoned with salt and pepper. for the salsa di giovanna, i combined the juice of 1 lemon with about 3 times as much extra virgin olive oil (gotta use the premium stuff for this one) and two sprigs of mint and basil chopped. about 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced, followed. this was seasoned with salt and pepper and set aside.

i then fired up a non-stick grill pan on high heat and added a swirl of olive oil. the steaks went down on one side for about 3 minutes and were flipped over for another 3 or so until rare. i was using sashimi grade swordfish, mind you. if you have a lesser grade or less fresh fish, cook til no longer raw. according to bill, swordfish will hold up to the prolonged cooking due to its fat content. so you're in the clear. i like raw fish and jamie oliver says to cook this rare as well. so rare it is!

and the final product, er, plate...

the salsa di giovanna is spooned over the swordfish and creates a moist, lemony, garlicky and minty (in that order) sensation on the palate. because of the meatiness of the swordfish, it withstands the substanial vinaigrette and its bold herbs.

slicing into the steak you can see how it's cooked to rare, an opaque pink color. this leaves the fish quite firm and reminded me much of how seared ahi is usually prepared. i thought it was great but scott would've preferred his more done.

the couscous is a nice, light counterpoint to the fish, and the roasted broccolini is green and crunchy. overall, a very light and healthy, if not a little strong on the olive oil. i think i have conquered my fear of fish! well, maybe at least swordfish. according to oliver's text, you can substitute the swordfish with any large, meaty fish like tuna or shark. oh, i forgot to mention that i did substitute fresh basil for the oregeno called for in the recipe, since scott couldn't find any at albertson's.

for dessert, scott brought an ube cake from the red ribbon bakery next to albertson's.

ube is filipino for taro root which is what colors this soft sponge cake roll.

it was sweet and taro-y. very moist and creamy too.

although it didn't fit the theme of italian for tonite, it was a sweet way to end the meal. thanks scott.

shimi and bill, hope you guys enjoyed this one. mahalo.