Grilled Swordfish with Tomatillo Corn Relish
Swordfish is more steaky than fishy (that dense, meaty, heartiness), so if you’re not sure what you’re craving, its a good way to go once in a while. Just like with red meat, you need strong flavors to stand up alongside it, and so for this dish, I grilled some citric marinated swordfish steaks and served them with a tomatillo corn relish.
The slowest step in preparing this dish is marinating the fish, and even that goes pretty quickly (no more than an hour!), so this is one of those dishes you could feasibly do during the middle of the week. The marinade imparts a subtle, spicy, citric flavor unto the fish, which compliments the more forward flavored relish. The relish largely resembles salsa verde and has similar citric, crisp, flavors with a balance of sweetness and crunch brought by the corn. All together, it was a really strong flavored, tasty meal.
- 2 swordfish steaks
- Marinade
- juice of 1 lemon
- orange juice (enough to cover)
- dash of olive oil, salt, cayenne, chipotle
- 1 minced jalapeño
- Relish
- olive oil
- 6 tomatillos
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 shallot
- 2 jalapeño
- 1 ear corn
- 1 poblano
- 1 chipotle in adobo
- handful of cilantro
- salt
- dab of oil
- salt
- pepper
- ground coriander
- ground cinnamon
- ground cumin
- dried oregano
Begin with the marinade about an hour before you intend to start cooking. Simply dice up the jalapeño and mix it in with everything else. Add the fish and do you best to submerge it. Let this rest in the fridge.
While you wait on the marinade, you can get started on the relish. Coat the garlic, shallot, peppers, and corn in olive oil and roast for about 10 minutes (whether its in your oven at ~450+ °F or on the grill–I used the grill). Then, halve the tomatillos, oil them, and add them to the heat along with everything else for another 10 minutes, removing any of the other items if they’re done early. Peel off the charred pepper skins, squeeze the garlic and shallot out of its papery skin, and slice the corn kernels off of the cob.
Once you’re done roasting and cleaning up the veggies, transfer all but the corn to your food processor. Also add in the chipotle, handful of cilantro, and salt. Give this a good few pulses (but let it still have some texture–don’t puree the mixture!), and then mix in the corn kernels. Adjust seasoning to taste and set this aside–the relish is done.
Now, all that remains is the fish. Remove it from the marinade and gently pat it dry with a paper towel. Rub the steaks with a dab of oil and all of the spices. Give it 10 minutes or so to approach room temperature before putting it on the grill. Once you do grill, figure somewhere around 3-4 minutes per side.
At this point, you’re all set. Simply plate the fish, give a generous helping of relish, and dig in. I served this with a side of fried plantains. Enjoy!
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