Mesh Grill Pan from Williams-Sonoma
The Fine Mesh Grill Pan from Williams-Sonoma is an excellent grill accessory for anyone who grills Swordfish. If you have ever cooked swordfish on the grill before then you know that it can get flaky on the grill and can sometimes crumple and get overcooked on the thick grill bars. Well the Fine Mesh Grill Pan does a great job of distributing the grill energy all around the fish so you can a thoroughly yet not-overcooked piece of fish. One thing that I noticed with the pan is that it got very ugly and burnt after the first few uses. This is OK. You can clean it to get most of the chunks of the pan and so it is safe to re-use. But this is not supposed to be your most glamorous piece of kitchenware. It ain’t supposed to look pretty. It is just there to do its job. And it DOES do an excellent job of producing scrumptious pieces of Swordfish, and other fish as well. My main trick to cooking swordfish on the Fine Mesh Grill Pan is to season the fish first.
How I season the fish is I first add some good quality olive oil to both sides of the swordfish. Make sure that your hands have been washed and you are safe to touch and prepare food. Then I choose the side that I want to season. Usually I pick the side that isn’t as visually appealing. I add some sea salt and rub it in nice and easy. You don’t need to much to do the trick so don’t overdo it. Next I smother some paprika on the side that I decided to season. You shouldn’t add too much, just use enough to give the fish a nice, mildly reddish tint. Then I add some cracked pepper for some kick and texture. After that I put some ground savory seasoning on it. It should add a greenish-black color to the fish. This flavor is excellent once you grill it up. Another thing to add is ground oregano bits. This is mostly for macro texture and it isn’t really for the flavor. Besides most of the oregano will get burnt anyway. But the cool thing is that it will help create the crispiness and the tiny bit of crunch that will make your swordfish scream with delectability.
Here’s the trick: When you are ready to grill the swordfish or other fish of your choice, MAKE SURE that your grill is nice and HOT first. You don’t want to have a variable temperature when grilling your fish. AND ANOTHER THING: Grill your fish on the Seasoned Side first! This may be counter intuitive, but if you don’t disturb your fish and let it cook for a few minutes or so depending on how thick your piece of fish is, you will yield good results. How long you cook your fish is up to you, but remember these things have all sorts of bacteria and critters living inside them so you might as well stay on the safe side and cook your fish thoroughly.
The best way I’ve found to grill swordfish is to only flip the fish once. That means that you need to look closely at your piece of fish and see if it has grilled 60% or so as far as you want to go. Then when you flip it you should only need to cook it for about 30-40% more time. If you flip your fish too much you will break it apart and it will be more spongy and less visually appealing. It may taste more rubbery if you flip it too much also.
One thing that you’ll need with your Fine Mesh Grill Pan is a long, sturdy spatula. This way you will be able to quickly dislodge and flip the fish. There is a good chance that the fish will resist you from scraping it off the grill pan at first. Be persistent and use quick yet strong thrusts in order to avoid damaging the fish and to preserve as much of the crispiness and integrity of the crust as possible.
A cool feature to the Fine Mesh Grill Pan is that Williams-Sonoma includes a detachable handle that is very sturdy. You take the handle off when you aren’t placing or removing the pan on the grill. That way, when you want to remove the grill pan from the grill you won’t have to worry about burning yourself. The quality of metal is very nice stainless steel. And the Fine Mesh Grill Pan costs about $30.00 and I think it is well worth the price due to how you can improve the finished quality of expensive fish. Let’s face it, it can easily cost more than $30 – $50 for some good quality swordfish depending on how many people are eating. So if you are going to spend that kind of money on lunch or dinner, you might as well drop the extra cash to have a high-quality accessory that can assist in cooking it with perfection.
You can use the Fine Mesh Grill Pan for things other than fish. My family and I have used it for vegetables and other edible items. But I think it really shines on grilling up swordfish.
-Tyler