Pepper Crusted Fish Steaks with Sweet and Sour Barbecue Glaze
Instructions:
- Peppercorns lose their zing over time; make sure yours are fresh, within six months of purchase. Makes 4 servings
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- Four 6- to 8-ounce marlin, tuna, mahimahi, swordfish, halibut, opah , or salmon steaks, about 1 inch thick
- Canola oil for the grill grate or the grill pan
- Sweet-and-Sour Barbecue Glaze
- Crush the peppercorns to a fairly fine powder in a mortar using a pestle, or in a sealed plastic bag using the bottom of a heavy saucepan or the smooth side of a meat mallet. Press the peppercorns into the fish steaks; set aside.
- Preheat a gas grill for high-heat cooking or prepare a high-heat well ashed coal bed in a charcoal grill. Alternatively, heat a grill pan over medium- high heat.
- Generously oil the grill grate and set it 4 to 6 inches over the heat, or swirl a little oil into the grill pan. Place the steaks directly over the heat source on the grill or in the grill pan. Mop with the Sweet-and-Sour Barbecue Glaze; grill or cook for 3 to 4 minutes, basting the top of the steaks one more time with the glaze as they cook.
- Flip the steaks, baste again with the glaze, and grill or cook until lightly browned and marked, mopping one more time, about 3 minutes (see Note).
- Note:
- The timing here will produce medium rare steaks: ones with a warm center, pink or milky depending on the fish. If you prefer a steak to be more done, leave it on the grill about 1 additional minute per side.
- For a less done steak— particularly good for tuna, but resulting in a cool red center—shave 1 minute off the cooking time after you flip the steaks.
- If you prefer rare fish steaks, make sure they are fresh; ask if they are “sushi-quality.â€