first grilling

Last night we christened our 'almost completed deck' with its first grilling.

We are still missing our railings and stair treads, but since the grill is on the deck, that's good enough for us !

After work I went a couple of doors down and bought three swordfish steaks from Yankee Lobster.  I hadn't been before (I don't know why).  Clean shop, nice selection.  I was asked how far I had to travel and when I told him that I only had to go twenty minutes (hoping for no traffic on the Pike), he went in the back and brought out a bag of fresh ice that he placed in the sack with my steaks.  Thoughtful and kind, and definitely the kind of action that will bring me back.

Once home, I simply took the steaks (which smelled of the sea, nothing fishy about them), and with a sprinkling of kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and a drizzling of olive oil.  Into the fridge until grilling time. 

I quickly made up a pot of cous cous and then set it aside until dinner.

Grape tomatoes (sadly not my own) and some fresh Greek Oregano from my garden, kosher salt and pepper with olive oil.  Tossed and then added some kalamata olives, and let that sit until the grill was going.

I created a small pan for the grill, out of non-stick alum foil.  I put it on the grill and the moment I put the tomato olive mixture on to it, it started sizzling.  These were the first thing on the grill, and the last thing off.  I will say, the tomatoes did not burst, which surprised me.  However, they did release some of their liquid and then caramelized into lovely large ruby jewels.  The olives did their best to keep up with the tomatoes, but they just got crunchy bits here and there.   I will definitely do this again.  I could see doing this as a side on its own. 

 

Swordfish went on to the grill, 4 minutes on the first side.  While waiting to flip the fish, I took slivered almonds and started roasting them in a pan.   Just wanted to knock the raw taste and waxy mouth feel off.  Back out to the grill, flipped the fish, and back in to toss the almonds.

Dinner was really spectacular.  We hadn't had swordfish in almost two years, as Karin couldn't eat swordfish while she was pregnant.  Swordfish with the roasted slivered almonds on top, with a squeeze of lemon.  Awesome.  Juicy fish, wonderful texture, great flavor.  When I put the cous cous on the plates, I spooned the tomato/olive mixture on top and let then shaved some parmigiana on top of it.  

Paired it with a chilled bottle of Starwood Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough region NZ) and I don't think we talked at all - we just moaned and smiled our way through dinner.

It was a nice way to start enjoying our deck, grilling, fish, summer.