If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know I am a pretty big fan of the contessa; whether I’m making blue cheese dip (that doubles as a NICE! salad dressing), sticky toffee date cake, or my almost-always-ready-to-go maple roasted bacon.
Now, I’m back for more.
I had a couple of swordfish steaks (vacuum packed and frozen, from Target) that were what’s for dinner, and wasn’t feeling the love for any of my regular (or previous) swordfish steak recipes. A quick trip through my book stacks yielded this nice little bit of a recipe from 2008’s barefoot contessa back to basics. If it sounds vaguely familiar – it may be because she based it on her Indonesian ginger chicken recipe, which we quite like – tho’ I think this is better – and a bit easier since you don’t have to cook the marinade.
INGREDIENTS
•1/3 cup soy sauce
•1/4 cup canola or peanut oil, plus extra for brushing on the grill
•2 tsp grated lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
•1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
•1/4 cup minced or finely chopped ginger root – I used all I had, about 1/8 cup, and added 1 tsp Earl’s 5 Pepper Sauce to make up the difference
•2 tbsp minced garlic (4 cloves)
•2 tbsp Dijon mustard
•I also added 1 tbsp of Sweet Thai Chili sauce after I ran the marinade through the hand blender and tasted it
•6 (8-ounce, 1-inch thick) swordfish steaks – I used two
•Kosher salt
Combine the soy sauce with the oil (I used canola this time, but plan on adding peanut 
oil to my larder), lemon zest and juice, ginger, garlic, mustard, and, if you’re feeling the need, Earl’s (or mebbe Tabasco Chipotle).
The contessa uses it as is, but I decided to give mine a whirl with the hand blender, which emulsified it into this creamy color and texture.
A taste told me it was going to be good, but I wanted a little sumpin’ sumpin’ extra, so reached for the sweet chili sauce, which I 
think makes just about anything better (I have yet to try it on ice cream, but I am thinking about it).
Pour half of the sauce into a rimmed container just big enough for your swordfish and place the steaks on top.
Pour the rest of the marinade over the swordfish, cover with plastic wrap, and pop in the fridge for at least four hours or at most overnight – too long and your swordfish will turn to mush, not a good thing – mine sat covered in the fridge for about six hours.
Thirty minutes before you’re ready to eat, get your grill ready by heating to medium and brushing the grates with a bit of oil.
Remove the swordfish from the marinade, season both sides with the Kosher salt, and cook for five minutes per side. I used the kitchen grill – but these would be awesome cooked over gas or charcoal.
Remove steaks to a platter, cover with foil, and set aside to rest for ten or fifteen minutes while you’re pulling the rest of dinner together – we had ours with a bit of yellow rice and Asian salad (I STILL hate that name – any suggestions?) on the side.