Good Fish And Thoughts On A New Blog

Tonight was simple and quick.  I stopped by Findlay to pick up something to grill, knowing in the back of my mind that I was in the mood for fish.  I had left The Guide at home, so I didn't have a recipe in mind.  I remembered that I still had one or two swordfish recipes to go, and they looked tasty at Luken's Fish Market.  I picked up two "steaks" and headed home, looked at the guide, wrote down what I needed, headed to Meijer, and came home ready to make the Swordfish Kabobs With Pasta Provencal on page 289.

Following protocol, I doubled the marinade and put everything in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag.

I also got to use my kabob skewers again.

I started the sauce and the pasta.

It was here that Weber taught me something.  The directions called for adding the basil chiffonade to the pasta immediately after draining.

Then I was supposed to give them a gentle toss to incorporate the basil into the noodles.

I really dig this technique!  It is something that will stick with me for many years to come.  It is a simple and effective way to add amazing depth of flavor to the noodles.  As the noodles are still very hot after draining, the steam that they release cooks the herbs which releases their essential oils and coats the noodles with their flavor compounds (this is all my theory, based on previous knowledge).   I then pulled the kabobs from The Forge.

I plated and dinner was complete, and all in less than an hour!

This is a recipe to keep in mind if we need something quick.  I think that with a little experience I could trim the total cook time a little bit to make it even more of an efficient meal.  In the last couple of weeks I've cooked a fair amount of "Provencal" meals, enjoying every single one of them.  I dig this style of cooking quite a bit, and the wine from this region just as much (Corey LOVES Bandol wine...hint, hint).  I remember coming across a cookbook on Provencal cooking one time when The Bride and I were at Half-Price Books.  I think I'll pick it up sometime with the intention of making that the basis of my next blog (whenever I finish this one, that is, which based on the pace I am at will be in about two or three years).  I'll also add visiting this region of the world to my bucket list as well.  One of my favorite Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations is when he visited this part of France.  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, this recipe was quite nice.  The swordfish cubes were cooked to perfection (The Bride used expletives to describe how much she enjoyed them), and the quick marinade helped tremendously, especially given the short length of time that was allowed.  The sauce was simple and delicious with just a hint of heat from the red pepper flakes, which is always welcome in the Bogdan household.  Still, my favorite part of it all was the basil-infused pasta noodles, all thanks to the new technique that I learned from Weber!