Pan Seared Swordfish with Curly Cress and Shallots Quickle Salad

The cress and quickles have a sharp quality the acts as a foil to the richness of the fish, and the sweetness of the quickles adds extra depth to the flavors. Crunch from the pine nuts and the creaminess they possess rounds everything out and talks with the butter used on the fish to link the two together.

INGREDIENTS:

4 6-ounce swordfish steaks, skinned and bloodline removed

2 heaping cups curly cress-trim away thick stems using scissors for ease

½ cup shallot quickles, well drained and separated

Salt (flaky salt such as Maldon or Murray River preferred) and pepper to taste

¼ cup pine nuts

¼ cup, or as needed, Simple White Balsamic Vinaigrette (see recipe on site)

Avocado or grape seed oil as needed

2 tablespoons butter

METHOD:

Heat a 14-inch heavy bottomed sauté pan (or 2 smaller pans of same size and weight) over medium-high heat. You want to cook the fish without crowding so it sears, not steams. Season the fish with salt and pepper. When the pan is quite hot, add the oil to it. When the oil begins to shiver and look like it is “thinning out”, add 1 tablespoon butter and swirl the pan so it coats the bottom. Carefully add the fish. Cook for four minutes. Use a fish spatula to carefully turn the fish over, tilting the pan to ensure there is some hot oil/butter under each piece as you turn them. Add the next piece of butter, and as it melts, use the handle to tilt the pan while lifting the fish pieces so you can get the butter under the fish. If the fish steaks are       1-inch thick, you will cook another 3 minutes. If thicker, you will cook a little longer (Please see Basic Fish Cookery on site for this information. Although I usually say “8 minutes to the inch”, but for sword and tunas it is always 7 minutes to the inch.), so if the fish is 1½-inches, total cooking time will be about 10-11 inches. Cook just until the fish is almost done through, with a tinge of pink still in it. Remove from the heat to plates.

While the fish cooks on the second side, make the dressing. Place the quickles into a large non-reactive bowl and drizzle with a little dressing. Use your fingers to toss the shallots so they are universally dressed. Add the cress and gently toss and tumble the quickles with the shallots so they merge without the cress getting crushed. Season with salt and pepper and taste a little for balance. Adjust if need be. Place a tumble of salad on each piece of fish, scatter with pine nuts and a last sprinkling of just a few salt flakes, and serve right away.

Serves: 4

Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen