Opa Fish

[shelley]

Tonight I prepared a fish I'd never had before, and it was awesome! Bristol Farms called it "Opa." Opa is the Hawaiian word for Delicious. The name is actually longer than this, something like Pa'Opa'A but Opa is all they put on the label.

It's a steak fish - very meaty, thick pieces of light-colored, mild-flavored fish perfect for broiling or grilling. A cross between Halibut and Swordfish, but without any of the inherent problems in either. Halibut is dry and tasteless unless you're a whizz with sauces, and swordfish has been over-fished and needs to be left alone for another year or two to make a full comeback. AND it was less than half the cost of swordfish!

Since the guy behind the fish counter said it was like swordfish I decided to make an old recipe that I haven't made in like 4 years since boycotting swordfish. And oh my goodness it came out good! The dinner was highly praised and everyone ate too much - but hey, it's Sunday.

Fish steaks are so easy to prepare - basically, you put the oven on Broiler at 400 degrees, put the fish on whatever kind of broiler pan you have, or a wire rack over a baking pan, so it doesn't fry. Cook for 8-10 minutes per inch of thickness about 3-4 inches away from the heat. Turn at least once if 2 inches thick. You'll know the fish is done when it turns white and flaky. Prepare it before broiling by dousing it with oil, or by marinating it - and the marinade should include oil unless it's a glaze.

Green Peppercorn Marinated Fish Steaks
1 whole large lemon, squeezed into shallow dish or pan for marinating the fish. I use a corningware dish.
2 tablespoons GREEN peppercorns, not black, can find in spice sections of any store - but not every store will bother stocking it, you may have to hunt for them, but it's worth it. Put them into a heavy-duty Ziplock bag and crush them so they break in half, either with a mallet or use the bottom of a frying pan. Add to the lemon juice.
Now add enough olive oil for the bottom of the dish to be coated at least 1/4 inch high.
Add the fish, coat it good, and marinate for at least 4 hours, turning once. The lemon juice will cook the fish a bit so expect it to turn color, that's perfectly okay.

Broil it as usual, and serve as-is or have some tartar sauce on the side, or homemade basil/caper mayonnaise.

I served it with a Basmati/Wild Rice Pilaf and Zucchini/Yellow Squash chopped and sauteed for 2 minutes in butter, oil, thyme, garlic, red pepper flakes. Since some of my family are big eaters and don't appreciate veggies, I also included sourdough bread, organic butter and a soft cheese spread with garlic/herbs (Alloette - very tasty).

All in all, apart from the time to marinade, this gourmet dinner took only 30 minutes to prepare.