INGREDIENTS:Romesco Sauce (3 cups):
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup peanuts, roasted/salted
1 white bread slice, torn into 2 inch pieces
2 Roma (plum) tomatoes
3 red bell peppers
2 slices yellow onion, medium, ½ inch thick
2 garlic cloves, fresh, peeled
1 ½ cups cilantro, chopped
¼ cup sherry vinegar
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
to taste, kosher salt
to taste, black pepper, freshly ground
Swordfish:
6 swordfish steaks, 6 oz. each
2 Tbsp. peanut oil
¼ cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed
to taste, kosher salt
to taste, black pepper, freshly ground DIRECTIONS:For Romesco Sauce: Add olive oil to medium hot saucepan and add the peanuts. Heat until peanuts are toasted, then strain. Reserve oil and peanuts. Coat a medium hot saute pan with ¼ inch of reserved oil and brown the bread on both sides. Remove bread and cool. Combine bread, peanuts and remaining oil in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until peanuts are ground fine. Reserve.
Grill the peppers and tomatoes on a hardwood grill until the skins are lightly blackened. Place in an appropriately sized bowl and cover for several minutes. Remove the stems, seeds and most of the skin from the peppers. Reserve with the whole tomatoes. Grill the onion and garlic until lightly charred and softened. Reserve. Place the peppers, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, vinegar, cayenne and garlic in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Puree until smooth and pour into a non-reactive bowl. Fold in the peanut and bread mixture until completely blended. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Hold and 140°F for service.
Combine the oil, lemon, salt and pepper and pour over the swordfish. Cover and hold below 40°F for service for no longer than 15 minutes.
For service, place swordfish steaks on grill over hot coals. Rotate 45° after 2 minutes and turn over after 3 minutes. (Time depends on thickness of the steak. Fish should have a very moist interior.) Remove fish from grill and place in the center of a serving plate. Top the fish with 1 Tbsp. of the Romesco sauce and pour another 2 Tbsp. of sauce around the fish.
Serve immediately. SERVINGS:6 servings From:Executive chef Jay Swift PHOTO CREDIT:Photo Credit: THE PEANUT ADVISORY BOARD