New England Cheese Baked Swordfish and Roasted Califlower

If you or someone you know dislikes eating fish, you'll want to look at this post. Maybe I learned it from my mom... when you have a husband (my dad) and/or significant other, C, who "dislikes" eating fish, you have to find creative ways to get him to eat it. Like my grandma, she used to tell me that if I didn't eat fish my neck would get fat! (hahaha) I've assisted my mother in this department--See Seafood Gumbo. My dad eats it. He's not super excited about it but he smiles and mixes it with a lot of rice! And I've even made it for C too.

 good stuff: this dish was just too exciting that I couldn't wait to share all the wonderful no-meat dishes I've been trying these past couple of weeks. I should explain that for the past three weeks, C and I have taken a challenge to eating no-meat for one month. (We started craving burgers a week ago. I'm being supportive even though I'm not the one who was directly challenged.)

This challenge has not only inspired me to cook again, but it's allowed me to cook new dishes! My dad, though he dislikes fish, would always order either the seabass or the swordfish from this one neighborhood Japanese restaurant we went to in San Francisco. He's always accounted for how swordfish is a meaty fish, and that's why he likes it--another plus, not a lot of bones.

I bought a couple of swordfish steaks from Trader Joe's, and pulled them out of the fridge when I decided to make it for dinner. It was a good 1" steak, the skin still on and one was slightly bigger than the other.

I was searching on the internet on Tuesday trying to find a good recipe. It was between three recipes: Swordfish Italiano (on cooks.com) or Blackened Swordfish with Sweet Potato Crab Hash (a "best-of" recipe from foodnetwork.com).  Honestly, I thought C might like the blackened swordfish because he likes grilled steaks. The Swordfish Italiano was a simple-medium difficulty recipe. The Blackened Swordfish was very involved. (Links to these recipes are provided below.)

Finally, I decided to make this cheesy baked fish. I figured that that was the best way to cook it with a lesser chance that I would overcook it.

New England Cheese Baked Fish
2 fillets Swordfish (or other firm, white fish such as Halibut, Cod, or haddock)
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of celery soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup medium cheddar cheese
Italian seasoning and Garlic to taste (optional)

Arrange the fillets in a single layer in a shallow buttered pan. In a saucepan, combine the undiluted soup and sour cream. Blend well. Add 3/4 cup of cheese and heat over low heat, stirring constantly until the cheese melts. Stir in the italian seasoning and minced garlic to taste. Spread this over the fillets.

Bake in 375 to 400 degree oven over 25 minutes or until the fish flakes easily. (I read the package that the swordfish steaks came in and depending on the thickness of the steaks and probably the heat in your oven, you might give or take 15 minutes. The ones I bought took about 15 extra minutes, so 40 minutes altogether.) Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese and return to oven until cheese melts. Serve immediately.

I served the swordfish with rice pilaf and roasted cauliflower. I thought, since I have the oven on, in this 98 degree Sacramento heat, might as well do the veggies in the oven easy. I cut up the cauliflower and spread it over a shallow roasting pan (or you can use a cooking sheet). Toss it with minced garlic, olive oil, and I sprinkled some thyme over it. So easy!

Other recipes for another day:

Blackened Swordfish with Sweet Potato Crab Hash

Swordfish Italiano