![French Fries](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/09/16/magazine/16mag-eat/16mag-eat-mediumThreeByTwo440.png?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
French Fries
Gabrielle Hamilton
1103 ratings with an average rating of 3 out of 5 stars
1,103
1 1/2 hours active, 48 hours soaking overnight and freezing overnight
Advertisement
Season the swordfish gently but evenly on both sides with salt and pepper.
Dredge the fish in the flour, patting off any excess.
In a cast-iron or nonstick skillet, heat grapeseed oil until just smoking over medium-high heat. Add in 2 tablespoons of the butter until melted and bubbling, about 30 seconds.
Place the swordfish in the pan and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 3-4 minutes each side. Work in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding the pan.
Transfer the swordfish to a warm plate, and remove any excess fat from the sauté pan.
While the pan is still hot, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, sweat the shallots and cook until soft and cooked through, being careful not to brown. About 30 seconds.
Deglaze the pan with the white wine, and reduce by half.
Add the capers and lemon juice, and cook for 1 minute.
Take the pan off the heat, and add in the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, swirling the pan continuously to emulsify the butter.
Add in the minced parsley, and season to taste.
Spoon the sauce over the fish, and garnish with a lemon cheek and a parsley stem.
1/6 cup of wine? Seriously? Who has a measuring cup with 1/6 marked? I've worked it out, and that comes to 2 tbsp + 2 tsp of white wine. Couldn't we just go with 3 tbsp and call it a day?
What other fish can I use beside swordfish?
My husband said this is wonderful. He saw the recipe, sent it to me, and suggested it for dinner, then raved about it. I'm keeping him. And keeping the recipe, too.
Wondra, by the way, is superfine flour, also called instant flour.
I really like using any firm white fish - sole, tilapia, snapper.
And you could get away with waaay less butter (I actually just add a pat of it at the end, or sometimes none at all - the sauce is still delicious).
1.5 pounds of fish should serve at least 4 people, especially when served with a rich sauce like buerre blanc. If you would like the original recipe for this sauce, please refer to my book: Mastering the Art of French Cooking. In it may be found a tip to correct the sauce if it breaks: whisk in a tablespoon or two of hot water. Bon Appetit!
Excellent dish. The Wondra is a very good suggestion for getting that picatta softness without a floury taste. Two small suggestions: sear the thinly cut swordfish at high heat in the grapeseed oil without added butter (you don't want a browned butter flavor). Keep warm under foil while you make the sauce. Reheat fish in the buttery sauce at a very gentle heat for several minutes to finish cooking the fish and to allow its flavors to blend with the sauce.
We made this for two with 3/4 pound responsibly fished swordfish, with no fear of mercury as my husband and I are in our 50’s and we are probably doomed from all the fish we ate in our younger years. I used a glug of white wine to make the sauce, as I halved the sauce ingredients & figured a glug would suffice. Didn’t have Wondra flour, used all purpose and luckily have a gas cooktop. This fish was absolutely delicious!
You don't need so much butter. I use 3 T butter and double the capers, lemon juice, wine, shallots, etc. Delicious!
This technique works well with any fish sturdy enough to pan-fry (really delicate sole fillets, for example, can turn frustratingly into hash). You'll just need to adjust the cooking time depending on the thickness of your fillets and how cooked or rare you like your fish. Swordfish is one of the thickest fillets you'll find, so unless you have something similarly very thick, like sea bass, you'll want something closer to 2 minutes per side rather than 3-4.
"In a cast-iron or nonstick skillet, heat grapeseed oil until just smoking over medium-high heat. Add in 2 tablespoons of the butter until melted and bubbling, about 30 seconds." Whoa! Was is just me, or is this a dangerous thing to do. I heated up the oil as directed and when the butter hit it, the water in the butter pretty much exploded the oil all over everything. Not doing that again! Otherwise, great recipe.
As we're not all that fond of capers, I substitute artichoke hearts, and garlic for the shallots. Yum!
This is a great recipe and one that also works well with other proteins like chicken or pork. I especially appreciate the serving size : 1.5 pounds swordfish for two people. That is the reality in my house when swordfish this good is on the table. No four ounce portions here.
I used salmon. It turned out great.
Made this tonight. Used regular flour. Didn’t measure wine (or anything else for that matter) and used portions appropriate for the amount of fish. Totally delicious. On the table in less than 30 minutes. Served with cacio e pepe (spicy) and zucchini. Will add this to the repertoire
An elegant, delicious variation on this uses a Roman method of poaching. It's best done in one or two slabs thickly cut - two inches or so. Melt enough unsalted butter to come at least half way up fish. Season with s&p, dot thoroughly with salt-packed (and soaked) capers. Keeping heat low, spoon butter over fish continuously for 10-15 minutes. Fish should be soft but not flaky and not falling apart. Finish with lemon juice/parsley. Fresh tuna also works; so does EVOO instead of butter.
delicious In a nonstick pan, the oil isn't needed. Next time, I'd use do the butter. Then, no need to wipe out the pan
Fantastic recipe, I was out of lemons and used orange but it was still amazing.
Lemon “cheek” - it’s a lengthwise slice off the side of the lemon.
What’s a good substitute for Wondra?
And what is a “cheek” of butter?
Made more sauce than I was expecting, but couldn’t really taste the lemon over the butter. Very tasty, but will try adding the zest next time instead of just the lemon juice, that should bring the lemon flavor out more
Excellent recipe. One thing to be aware of is that shallots often have a purple-pink color that can leach into the sauce and render it kinda ugly. I've made this recipe several times and have begun opting for white onion with no discernible change in taste.
As Maine continues to be a wee bit warm this is a celebration of fresh Maine swordfish at its finest; sweet, light, colorful, and so tasty. Fresh broccoli and watermelon were added. I followed this recipe as written.
Made this last night almost as written to uniform rave reviews. (Used sake instead of white wine to deglaze because that’s what was open in front of me). The swordfish with its meaty texture and strong flavors the perfect match for the lemony sauce. The six tbs of butter make for a luxurious texture. Don’t change a thing.
A great way to handle extra thick swordfish on the stove top. Sauteed the fish only in oil. At the end, added 2-3 tbsp of butter. And the wine - just a splash as needed to deglaze. It came out great - you'd be totally pleased if you got this at a restaurant.
I cooked this as written except increasing capers because we love them. We made a bed of angel hair pasta and spinach. It was excellent and our go to recipe next time we run into an excellent piece of swordfish as we did today.
I never liked swordfish until this recipe! I cooked it for the first time in 25 years and was delighted with how delicious it was. I can’t eat butter so used plant butter and otherwise followed the recipe.
Last night I made this with no flour, 2x lemon juice, 1/4 C white wine. the sauce still was silky and beautiful. Served it with rice and green beans almandine. It was lovely. Definately going to try this with other proteins too.
Delicious!! Eliminated 6T butter
Forget the lemon cheecks. As a major flavor improvement, do the same as in the Chicken Picatta by Ali Slagle on his site, using lemon two ways, calling for lemon slices to be caramelized (to soften their tang) and for a hit of fresh juice at the end (to brighten the whole dish). So slice half the lemon very thinly and remove any seeds. Add the lemon slices with the shallot to the pan and sauté, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Superb!
Advertisement