herbed breaded grilled swordfish; tomato; roasted broccoli

Stephanie Villani of Blue Moon Fish, the wife of the fisherman, Alex Villani, pointed me to the swordfish; I was immediately charmed by its appearance, even before she spoke of the merits of these particular steaks. Swordfish are classified as an oily fish, but they are also normally quite lean, which impacts its cooking and its tastiness. This one was unusually pink and fatty, both often very good things in seafood

They certainly were this time.

By the way, the rich variety of seafood shown on the board in the image below, taked of the inside the Villani’s fish stall may help explain why I feel like we live in the middle of the Atlantic, and why, with the help of some 5 other fishers, on other market days, we normally eat seafood 3 times a week – 4 if I make it there on Saturday too.

 

Last night’s meal (both courses) was remarkably good and at least slightly remarkable for its odd purpleness.

  • * two very fresh, not particularly thick 8-ounce Long Island waters swordfish steaks from Blue Moon Fish, marinated for half an hour in a mixture of olive oil, one small chopped red shallot from  from Norwich Meadows Farm, chopped fresh peppermint from Phillips Farm, and a very small amount of crushed dried peperoncino Calabresi secchi from Buon Italia, the steaks drained well, coated on both sides with some homemade dried breadcrumbs, then pan-grilled in/on an enameled cast iron pan over medium-high heat for about 3-4 minutes on each side, removed to 2 plates, seasoned with Maldon salt, some of the juice of an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market squeezed on top, drizzled with a little olive oil, and sprinkled with micro kohlrabi from Windfall Farms (this, a brand-new product for them, is both delicious and a real beauty)

 

  • three Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market, halved, briefly placed inside the grill pan just as the swordfish had finished, turning once, seasoned with Maldon salt and freshly-ground black pepper
  • * two small-to-medium heads of purple broccoli from Hoeffner Farm, the florets separated (the upper stems sliced fairly thinly, mixed with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and served as an appetizer), tossed in a little olive oil, Sea salt, pepper, and one small crushed section of a dark dried habanada pepper, spread onto a large ceramic oven pan, roasted at 400º for about 20 minutes, near the end of that time joined by the more tender broccoli leaves that had been mixed with tiny bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, the florets and the now slightly-crispy leaves arranged on the plates and drizzled with very small amounts of little lemon juice and olive oil

 

There was a small cheese course, and it too had a purple element.