The fish market in St. George’s is incredible. You can buy so much local, freshly caught fish at amazing prices. We had some amazing red snapper a while ago that I broiled and the fish only cost us the equivalent of 4US dollars. The fish market can be a little hit or miss though as to what they have, so we have learned to stock up. One fish that is very abundant here is sailfish. They are huge fish that are very steak-like and the awesome fish lady that Tyler mentioned just whacked right through the middle of the fish with a machete to give us our one pound slice we requested.
In looking for recipes, I learned that it isn’t all that common to be sold so finding recipes was a little tricky. However, due to its similarity to swordfish, I pulled some inspirations from a bunch of recipes I found and put some of my own creative magic together to try something out. I also decided that I would try out our oven. It has a dial marked 1-4 and no temperature regulation as there is no pilot light, so I have not been sure what to expect. But I figured I could just use my own temperature senses and try it out on a dish that is not too temperature sensitive.
The best part about this dish is that everything was local. We used all local produce we either bought at the Saturday market or from vendors on campus and then, of course, the fish was caught right off shore for sure.
What you Need:
1 lb sailfish steak (no skin)
2 green bell peppers (not common in Grenada, but you can find them sometimes at the local markets and they are amazing)
1 small onion
2 green onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 tomato
olive oil
sea salt and pepper
lime
Chop some peppers and onions.
First I lined a baking dish with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up) and sprayed lightly with cooking spray. I found a baking dish for only 20EC at the store so if you are like me and didn’t have one, it isn’t that expensive to buy and so handy. Then I sliced up the bell peppers and the onion. I laid these in the baking dish, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled on some sea salt and black pepper. Then I nestled in the fish which I pat dry and covered well with pepper and squeezed a few lime wedges over.
I sliced up some green onions reserving the top part as a garnish for after and sauteed the bottoms with some minced garlic. I toped the fish with the garlic-onion mixture. I sliced the tomato into thick slices and then laid them on top of the fish.
I covered the whole dish with some alumminum foil and placed it into my oven. The oven doesn’t really have a temperature setting but instead a flame level so I choose a medium-high setting and cooked the dish about 30-35 minutes. The goal was to get the fish to flake off easily. I cannot say exactly my time and temperature combo, but I was aiming to allow it to bake in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and this puppy is ready for the oven.
While it baked I made some simple white rice and cooked some fresh green beans to balance out our meal and presto – delicious fish dinner for two. I sprinkled the remaining green onions on top of the fish before serving and had some extra lime wedges for a little extra citrus punch. The lime helped to add some flavor to the rice as well.
I was actually surprised at how easy it was to make and it tasted so good. It was delicious and fresh. We didn’t know what to expect, but sailfish might just make it into our more regular diet. I had actually frozen this piece from a few weeks ago and it still tasted great so I have no problem buying a little extra just to have stuff on hand.
Enjoy!
