There are very few people who know
that Mrs Tom has such a diverse and colorful culinary background. She has kept
her outdoor grilling acumen secret for many years, yet well known to a close
group of friends. Her mother a legendary chef, her brother an international
award winning chef, her nephew a certified chef and culinary artist and Mr. Tom
himself was a genius on the outdoor grill.
Yes we were a restaurant family,
mother aunt, brother and my uncle was the local butcher. When you opened a refrigerator
at our house food fell out on the floor and we had multiple ice boxes. Are you
sick...no... of course you are shut up and eat this! Eat we did, it was the end
all to all things and you were not allowed to leave the table unless you could convince
mother you were not full but stuffed and in a bit of pain so that it would take
two hands to push yourself up from the table. Most of the conversation during
dinner was about what we were going to eat next.
The best things about our house were
the hidden treasures in the basement, a dirt cellar with an old wine press where my Grandfather
made the wine from our own grapes. Every real Italian had a grapevine and made
wine in their cellars...we were no different. My friends found this intriguing
it was just normal to us and all the cousins.
Although we owned a restaurant we
very seldom went out to a restaurant, my mother didn't trust them! She never
liked the food anywhere else so why bother. The only time we went out was if
there was some kind of occasion and my Uncle Peter would take us out. Mother
would always order a steak exclaiming they couldn't mess that up. She would
order it well done because she didn't trust the meat either.
Mrs.Tom has decided it was time to
let the cat out of the bag and to share her outdoor grilling secrets with
y'all. Look for the Mrs Tom's grilling secret at the end of every recipe, now
get off the couch and try some of Mrs. Tom's wonderful ideas for your grill and
we'll keep the flame burning for ya.
Mrs. Tom always says the less you
mess with a truly fresh piece of fish the better. You can always dress it up
with a side of grilled vegetables or a fresh salsa of some kind.
Char Grilled "Day Boat"
Atlantic Swordfish, Black Pepper Lemon Basil Butter
Serves 4
Rub
1 teaspoon ground allspice
2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fine chopped rosemary
Butter
1/4 LB fresh unsalted butter... room
temp
1/2 a lemon peeled, seeded and
chopped small
2 teaspoons coarse black pepper
5 leaves of chopped basil
one piece of wax or parchment paper
4-10 oz swordfish filets
virgin olive oil
the other half of the lemon cut thin
with the skin on
For the butter
Once the butter is soft mash in
lightly the lemon, pepper, basil don't let your butter get too soft, just soft
enough to add your ingredients.
Transfer the butter to the paper and
roll into a nice even log. Refrigerate...the butter will last for days in the
refrigerator.
When the butter is hard again remove
from the paper and slice silver dollar size medallions about 1/4 inch thick,
keep in the refrigerator until you are ready to add them to the fish.
Heat your grill to a high heat
Drizzle the olive oil and coat the
fish, then season with the rub evenly. Once the fire is ready make sure your
grill grates are clean, start the fish on the hot part of the grill and turn
one time only after 4-5 minutes on each side. Once you turn the fish place a
medallion of butter on the center of the fish with a thin slice of lemon on top
of the butter...close the lid
Mrs Tom's secret
Do not turn the fish more than the
one time be patient with it. If you want to be sure you have fish a day old and
you don't have time to catch it yourself call Mrs's Tom's nephew Chef Peter at
Wulfs Fish Market in Brookline Mass, he will cut the fish just right for your
grill and ship it to you next day. All the fish at Wulf's comes in daily from
boats that are out one day only.
Wulf's # 617-277-2506
Good grilling Mrs Tom
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