pasta with spicy swordfish

2-4 servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 clove garlic, chopped
1 lb. swordfish fillet, sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup tomato purée
2 new mexican or jalapeno chili pepper, seeds and inner white ribbing removed (if you like it milder), minced, plus extra for garnish
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ cup fish stock
1 teaspoon finely chopped oregano, plus extra
1 pound pasta

Instructions

In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic and swordfish, season with salt and pepper, and sauté for about 4 minutes. Remove from the skillet, and keep warm.

Add the tomato purée and the chili pepper to the same skillet. Season with salt and pepper, add the sugar, and cook for 6 minutes. Return the swordfish to the skillet, add the fish stock, and sprinkle with the marjoram. Cook until the sauce starts to thicken.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil. Add salt and pasta, and cook until al dente. Drain well, and add add to the skillet. Toss and transfer to a platter. To serve, sprinkle with marjoram, and garnish with whole chili peppers.

Salsa

Bhut Jolokia Fire Salsa

Yield 2½ cups

Ingredients

½ oz. (15 gr.) stemmed, dried bhut jolokia chilies
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 cans diced tomatoes with juice
salt to taste

Directions

In a bowl, add dried chilies and cover with hot water. Rehydrate for 15 minutes.
In a blender, combine chilies and 1/3 cup of soaking water, and then add garlic and vinegar and purée.
In a bowl, add chili purée to tomatoes and combine.

Spicy Apple-Green Chile Salsa

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoons olive oil
4 medium unpeeled tart apples, diced
1 large red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 chopped green serrano chilies
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 diced red pepper

Directions

In a skillet, over medium heat, add olive oil. Add the apples, red onion, garlic, and vinegar and cook 5 to 8 minutes or until the apples and onion are translucent. Add the broth, chilies, jalapeño, black pepper, cilantro, and salt. Stir and cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat until the apples are tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Add the red pepper during the last 5 minutes of cooking; set aside.

Salsa Verde (1)

Yield 3 cups

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 Jalapeño peppers OR 2 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped (adjust number and type of chilies to your taste)
Salt to taste

Directions

1 Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well.

2a Roasting method Cut in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin. This method gives a richer flavor.

2b Boiling method Place tomatillos in a saucepan, cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove tomatillos with a slotted spoon. This method is maybe easier and quicker.

2 Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, chili peppers, sugar in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.

Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican or any other dishes.

Makes 3 cups.

Salsa

Spiced Ginger Cranberry Sauce

I usually make a cranberry relish to Thanksgiving - but I was looking for something I could use to a roast duck using cranberries and ginger and was NOT a relish, but a warm sauce to be served over the poultry and I found something I could use/adapt on "MIKE's TABLE".This sauce was simply amazing it was incredibly rich and the sauce was had a deceptively simple appearance while packing a very, full, well-rounded flavor–fruity, spicy (the cloves and anise give a great finish), and acidic–the perfect compliment to cut through the duck. The tartness of the cranberries was balanced by the sweetness of the wine caramel (yeah, you read it right) beaten into the sauce. If you’re looking for a sexy sauce to make any meal special, this is definitely it because this is really tasty.

If you are using poultry see it you can get one with gizzards and all that good stuff. - if using game or other meat - try cooking up the bones & other usables when making the stock.
Stock
- vegetable oil
- salt
- pepper
- 1 medium onion
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 carrot
- 4-5 cups chicken stock
- big handful of thyme sprigs
- handful of parsely sprigs
- 1/2 Bay leaf
oranges zest - if you are not allergic to citrus
1 shallot
big handful of herbs (I used thyme sprigs, rosemary, and sage)
Sauce
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp balsamic
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1-1.25 cup cranberries
- ~1 inch knob ginger
- 2 cups stock (which you’ll be making as a part of this recipe - see above)
- 2 Tbsp arrowroot (or 3 Tbsp cornstarch) - I didn't use this!! It was the right consistency
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 3 cardamom pods
- 5 cloves
- 1 star anise
- fennel seeds
- salt
- pepper

The first step to this dish is to make a rich, brown stock (unless you happen to keep that handy in your freezer/pantry). So chop up the onion, celery, carrot, and gizzards (which should be roughly 1/2-1 inch sized chunks–include the wing tips, neck–it all adds flavor!), bones or other good things.

Then, in a pan, warm up some oil and brown the chopped goodies along with the diced onion, celery, and carrot. Toss this around periodically, browning everything for about 10 minutes or so. Then, add in the chicken stock (from a can is ok!) and herbs (thyme, parsely, Bay leaf), ensuring everything is submerged in liquid (top it off with more stock…or even water if you need to). Season with salt and pepper a bit.

Cover the pot loosely and gently simmer this for about 1.5-2 hours, skimming off the fat/scum periodically. Once time is up, pour the mixture through a strainer and squeeze every last bit of juice out of the zombie vegetables. The stock should have a rich, brown color and a great flavor. If you have more than you need for this recipe, save the extra for another day–you’ll use it!

Grate the ginger and gather the orange zest.
In a saucepan, mix the red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and sugar and warm this up. After a few minutes, the mixture should thicken and begin to caramelize while the harshness of the vinegar dissipates. Once its thick and syrupy, dissolve the mixture in a small bit of the stock you prepared earlier, beating it into the liquid until well mixed.With the wine caramel thinned out, add the rest of the stock and get the mixture boiling. Once it is, add in the cranberries, ginger, orange peel, and whole spices. After about 10 minutes, the cranberries should have burst and softened up to be more saucy. Let this continue to simmer on low/medium heat.

If you are preparing the sauce for a roast (duck, chicken, pheasant, elk) - and there are crispy bits and fat in the pan - geglaze with the red wine, boiling rapidly and scraping up all of the bits in the pan as best you can. Reduce it down to about 2-3 tablespoons and strain it into the cranberry sauce that you prepared earlier–it adds a great deal of extra punchy flavor.

With the sauce still simmering, fish out the whole spices. If the sauce doen't have the thickness you like, scoop out about 1/4-1/2 cup of the sauce into a bowl and beat in the cornstarch with a whisk until totally integrated. Mix this back into the saucepan with the rest of the sauce and simmer over medium heat for 3-5 minutes so the cornstarch can do its thing and thicken your sauce up a bit.

that's all for now, folks!

This page has been last updated 30 september 2009 17:23