Delicious Fish

We try to eat a lot of fish around here. Most of the time it hits all the important categories: it's easy, tends to be healthy(er), and it's delicious. I've never really met a fish that I didn't like. I broke out an old cookbook one day to try to find something new for fish. We found a recipe for a ginger basil butter sauce to have with tuna. Having never actually cooked tuna ourselves, I was excited to give it a try. Our local grocery store usually carries a good selection of fish, so I was all set. Except that this one time they didn't have any tuna.

They did, however, have swordfish steaks. I decided to go ahead and give it a try. They smelled so fishy when we opened them up. I did get a little nervous, but luckily they grilled up deliciously. And the sauce. Oh man. I could have eaten the entire batch with a spoon. No fish needed. Although, it was fantastic on the swordfish as well. I definitely recommend making this sauce and make it for anything! Don't be scared of the number of different flavors going on, they work perfectly well together.

Swordfish with Ginger-Basil Butter Sauce

adapted from Fast Entrees by Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison

2 lbs. fresh swordfish steaks

1/3 c. dry white wine

3 tbsp. white wine vinegar

1 tbsp. finely minced ginger

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

3 tbsp. minced basil leaves

1/4 c. soy sauce

6 tbsp. unsalted butter (cut into 6 pieces, at room temperature)

3 tbsp. heavy cream

salt & black pepper

Coat the swordfish steaks in the soy sauce and marinate prior to grilling for at least ten minutes. Grill over medium-high heat until the fish flakes when poked with a fork.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Combine the wine, vinegar, and ginger over high heat in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until sauce has reduced to about 1/4 cup. This took me about 3 to 5 minutes. Combine the lemon zest, basil, salt, and freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl. At this point the ingredients can all be refrigerated and saved for later, if necessary. If you refrigerated the mixture, bring the liquids to a rapid boil. Otherwise, just continue from where you left off and add in the butter and cream all at once and whisk until nearly smooth. Remove the sauce from the heat and add in the lemon zest mixture.

Spoon the sauce over the swordfish and garnish with a lemon wedge, if you like. Try to avoid licking your plate clean. But I can't promise anything.