Conference turris::cooks

    
    
    Rep .0 
    
    >>>Does anyone know of a recipe for a grilled or baked swordfish with
        portabella mushrooms in a wine sauce?
    
    
      Was it a red or white wine sauce??? 
    
    
    -mike
    

    	Could it have been a brown marsala type sauce with mushrooms?

    Sorry to take so long.  Things have been hectic here.
    
    I don't know what Marsala is.  The description on the menu was Wine
    Sauce.  It was a dark sauce so my guess would be that it was a red
    wine.
    
    Thanks!
    Colleen
    

    Marsala is a dark red wine.

    Marsala is a fortified wine made in Sicily. The wine is fermented until
    dry, then fortified and sweetened. Flavored marsalas are also made
    (orange, almond, etc).

My experiences with Marsala are more like .-1 and less like .-2. I have
a bottle of Marsala which I'm using now which isn't anything like dark
or red.

   Florio dry Marsala is the brand I use and is dark red, but
   not all of them are.  You want a dry Marsala for cooking.

   - Jim

    Thank you for telling me what Marsala is, and I don't mean to sound
    ungrateful, but I'm still searching for the swordfish recipie.
    
    Thanks!

Maybe we can work on it. 

Did it appear as though the swordfish was cooked *in* the sauce? Or was
the sauce applied after cooking?

Some chefs insist on serving sauce *around* the item (in this case the
swordfish_ but not *on* it, while some will simply ladle a sauce over the
item. Which method was used?

Was this a distinct swordfish steak, or chunks?

Did it appear to be grilled, broiled, pan fried, or poached? (Grilling
produces visible grill bars or regular marks; broiling chars exposed thin
edges; pan frying browns large areas; poaching leaves the fish very
light in color.)

Was the sauce thickened? Light in color, or dark? Opaque, translucent, or
transparent?

If I were going to experiment with this, I'd probably broil a
well-peppered swordfish steak in a skillet with a handle, then remove the
steak to a heated platter. Then I'd deglase the skillet with dry sherry
(*maybe* Marsala, if I was looking for that flavor) and perhaps a touch
of lemon juice, add 2 Tbs butter, mushrooms, salt and pepper, cook that
down, apply it to the swordfish and serve it.

HTH,

Art

    The swordfish did not seem to be cooked *in* the sauce.  I would have
    to say that the sauce was applied after cooking.
    
    It was a thick steack, very tender and could be peeled apart with a
    fork.
    
    Judging by the descriptions given in .9 I would have to say that the
    steak was poacked.  There were no grill marks or broiling marks, and I
    can guarantee that it wasn't pan fried.
    
    The sauce was somewhat thick and dark in color.  I have one friend who
    believes that it was a port wine, but I' don't know anything about
    wines so I couldn't say.
    
    I don't recall any pepper having been used  and I believe the sauce was
    ladeled OVER the swordfish.  
    
    I'm not the greatest when it comes to cooking. I prefer baking (breads and 
    cookies - chocolate chip is my specialiaty), but this recipie is one that 
    I want to figure out.
    
    Thanks for your help!
    Colleen
    
    

Good info. Another question (stretching your memory): did the sauce have
any seafood flavor to it? Bottled clam juice is a nice poaching liquid
for fish steaks or filets, and is one of my favorite "tricks". So, if it
was poached, then the whole dish can be cooked on the stove top (or in a
covered electric skillet).

Were the mushrooms whole, or sliced? 

Other than finding something to thicken our sauce, we've closed in on
this. I'm ready to try it. 

I only mentioned "well-peppered" because I pepper *everything*.

(Speaking of tricks, in the back of my mind I'm thinking of a _canned_
steak dressing, with mushrooms, in a thick, medium dark brown burgundy
wine sauce. You don't suppose... nah, they wouldn't do that...)

Art

    
    
    Rep .10  Colleen
    
    
      Try this,
    
    
    8-10 mushrooms <if you can find portobellos, or fresh shitake use
    		   them or just plain buttons>
    1 bottle clam juice
    1-3 cloves of crushed garlic
    1 tbsp of minced shallots
    1 Cup port wine <use something from Portugal>
    1 tsp minced fresh parsley and thyme
    
    4 5oz swordfish filets
    
     Remove the stems from the mushrooms and drizzle with a small
    amount of olive oil. Grill the mushrooms over high heat for 
    about 2 minutes per side. Don't let them burn though. Remove 
    and set side to cool.
    
     In a small sauce pan film the bottom of the pan with olive
    oil and then saute the garlic and shallots but just "sweat"
    them don't brown them. Add the clam juice and port and reduce
    by half. Strain the reduced mixture through a chinois or a
    very fine sieve and thicken with a little cornstarch dissolved
    in a tsp of water.
    
     Grille the fish over high heat for about 3-4 minutes per side
    depending on thickness. You could also broil or pan fry the fish
    but the grille produces the best taste. To help in the grilling 
    coat the filets with some olive oil before you start.
    
     Thinly slice the mushrooms and add to the thicken sauce and warm
    it up. Add the herbs at the last minute before serving so they keep
    their color.
    
     Place a pool of the sauce in the middle of the plate and then
    place the filet on top of the sauce. You could serve a pasta or
    rice side dish and some kind of veggie. I would serve a nice
    dry Tavel ros� or a slightly chilled <60f> Cote du Rhone Villages
    red.
    
    
    -mike