Not Really Swordfish Spiedini : Grilled Swordfish & Zucchini

One of the deficiencies of living in My Little Corner of The South is that I'm too far from fresh seafood to buy it, unless I want to drive for 45 minutes up to The Big City and spend half of my weekly food budget on a couple of pounds of fish. So when Publix had a "sale"* on "fresh, never frozen" swordfish a couple of weeks ago, I had to jump on it. Kind of like how sales of porn go up in hotels during conservative conventions.

Maybe that was a bad comparison? Do you think I'm going to just leave that alone for the rest of this post?

*I say "sale" because it's still more than I like to spend on my proteins, but this was a bargain for seafood 'round these here parts.

But then life got in the way, so it ended up getting frozen after all - in my freezer. Simple grilled swordfish steaks weren't in my future after all.

But then I found a recipe from the Queen of Food Porn* for grilled swordfish, and decided that would do nicely for someone needing a quick fix. Except, buying pancetta in my corner of the world is - again - more than I want to spend, and Publix didn't have any obliging sales. So I just left it off, like a Porn Star might "forget" to wear underwear for a shoot.

*Giada De Laurentiis. Do I really need close-up shots of her taking a bite of a chocolate covered strawberry with cheesy music playing in the background? I get it, she's hot, but: Short answer: NO.

So this was our dinner this evening: Not Quite Swordfish Spiedini with Zucchini Thrown in Just Because.

And? It was spectacular. My only sorrow is that fish really doesn't reheat well at all, so we had to eat it all tonight - which isn't really a sorrow now that I come to think of it, more like how (apparently) a conservative convention would react to a free-porn-night in their hotel bedroom.

And I think I may have talked about porn enough to give my mother a headache. Sorry, Ma. The fish was just that awesome.

Not Really Swordfish Spiedini with Zucchini

1 lb swordfish steaks, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 large zucchini, cut in 1-ish inch slices
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp dried savory
3/4 tsp dried thyme
3/4 tsp dried oregano
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
dash of salt

If you happen to have NOT left your metal skewers at your best friends house 8 months ago and forgotten to retrieve them since, then use them. Otherwise: Set 3 wooden skewers to soak in water for 30 minutes.

Cut up your swordfish and Zucchini.



Mix the olive oil, herbs and seasonings in a bowl.



Add the swordfish and zucchini and marinate for the remainder of the 30 minutes.



Alternating swordfish with zucchini, skewer the suckers and reserve the marinade.



Heat a gas grill (or broiler).

Grill (or broil) skewers for about 8-10 minutes, turning every couple of minutes and basting with reserved marinade. Make sure to cook for a couple of minutes after you baste them the last time.

I had more fish than would fit on the skewers, so I just grilled them separately - because who's gonna complain about extra fish?

You could serve this over rice if you feel the need. Or maybe toss them with some pasta, butter and parmesan...that sound great now that I think about it. Since The Professor had a quarter of a watermelon waiting for dessert, he didn't want to get too full.

These things were AWESOME. I cooked them on high, and the swordfish and zucchini got a slight char that was delicious, while the fish remained wonderfully moist inside. This may be the first time I haven't dried out any fish but salmon on a grill. Marinades are the key, I've found.