Marlin costs significantly less than swordfish or tuna at my local fish market. At 10 bucks a pound, it was hard to resist. (Compare that to 30/pound for Chilean Sea Bass.) Marlin is very similar in density and flavor to swordfish, a little lighter, maybe. I marinated the steak in chili oil and orange juice and cooked it on a hot grill next to the asparagus that my friend N. rescued from her kitchen. A little distracted by the company – and the potatoes boiling on the stove – I left the fish on the grill just a tiny bit too long. The fish was still moist in the middle, but a little chewy around the outside. It didn’t sear quite the way I wanted it to – I think that the marinade wasn’t quite oily enough.
It was a fine plate of food: grilled marlin, asparagus with balsamic vinegar, and white potatoes tossed in olive oil and black pepper. We ate in the back garden and washed the meal down with cold beer. Later, after walking down to the Solstice Park to see if the sunset markers are, indeed, accurate, we ate the last of the ice cream. It was an absolutely perfect way to acknowledge that summer is here.
[tags]Fish Wednesday, Marlin, soltice[/tags]