Grilled Swordfish with Spicy Yogurt Sauce

From the Essential Pépin tv series, Episode 122: Good Catch!

Before grilling the swordfish steaks, I rub them lightly with oil and coat them with herbes de Provence. The steaks are served with a piquant yogurt sauce that can also accompany other grilled or poached fish, as well as grilled poultry.

Grilling the steaks for 4 to 5 minutes gives them the distinctive surface markings and taste of grilled meat without drying them out. Finished in a warm oven, they emerge tender, juicy, and flavorful. —Jacques Pépin

Serves 4

4 swordfish steaks (5–6 ounces each and about 1 inch thick), preferably center-cut
1/2 teaspoon canola oil
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1/2 teaspoon salt

SAUCE
1/3 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
2 small garlic cloves
1 piece ginger (about the size of the 2 garlic cloves), peeled
1 small jalapeño pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain yogurt

Rub the steaks on both sides with the oil and sprinkle with the herbes de Provence and salt. Arrange the steaks on a plate, cover them with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to cook.

FOR THE SAUCE: Put all the ingredients except the yogurt in a blender or mini-chop and process until chopped. Add the yogurt and process until smooth. Set aside, covered.

Preheat a grill until very hot. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Place the steaks on clean hot grill rack and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until lightly browned. Transfer the steaks to a tray and place them in the oven for 10 minutes to finish cooking.

Spoon enough sauce onto four plates to coat the bottom of each, place a steak in the center of each plate, and serve, passing the extra sauce on the side.

Copyright © 2011 by Jacques Pépin. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

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