Rosemary, part two

Rosemary Smoked Grilled Swordfish with Orange  & Black Olive Relish

(Listening: Chick Corea: Piano Improvisations, Vol 1)

With the abundance of rosemary in our possession, I put this meal together, choosing to use some rosemary branches to smoke the swordfish as it grilled. Wanting to keep it light for the hot weather, I thought of a citrus relish for the fish. At first I thought of a preserved lemon relish but remembered I hadn’t bothered to post that recipe so I decided on one based on oranges instead.

You can of course use any woody fresh herb for smoking (thyme, oregano, marjoram, fennel branches, etc.).

Youngest daughter, not a fan of fish, had chicken, which is another alternative.

Grilled Swordfish with Orange & Black Olive Relish

The relish recipe makes enough for 3 to 4 servings

For two servings:

Two  4 to 6 ounce portions of swordfish

One navel orange

¼ red onion, thinly sliced

12 to 15 oil cured olives, pitted*

1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar

3 Tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and ground black pepper

Fresh rosemary branches

1. Begin by grating the zest of the orange into a bowl. Cut the top and bottom off the orange. Place the cut surface of the orange onto a cutting board. Cut down around the orange exposing the segments. Continue around until all of the skin and white pith has been removed. Working over the bowl, use a paring knife to cut the segments from the orange. Slice the orange segments in half. Squeeze any remaining juice from the remaining orange membrane into the bowl. Add the pitted olives and sliced onion to the bowl. Add the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Cover and set the relish aside.

2. Build a charcoal fire in a grill. When the coals are hot, spread the coals evenly onto the bottom of the grill. Rub the grill grate with vegetable oil. Scatter the rosemary branches over the hot coals. Place the fish on the grill. Cover the grill and let the rosemary smoke the swordfish as it grills, about 5 minutes per side for 1” thick swordfish steaks for well done, less time for medium. Because of the short cooking time, use plenty of rosemary to infuse the smoke flavor into the fish; add additional branches as needed. Remove fish from grill and serve topped with the orange relish.

*If the olives aren’t pitted, place the olives on a cutting board and press them individually with the bottom of a glass. This will crack the olive making it easy to remove the pits.