All Things Beach

I don't think I enjoy anything more than going to the beach in the wintertime. I suppose March is considered early spring, but it is still snowing in other parts of the country, so we'll just call it winter. I loved living in Charleston for that reason. However in Charleston, the beaches were empty in the winter. It was absolutely wonderful because we had miles upon miles of empty stretches of beach where we could let the dogs run to their heart's content. The roles are reversed in southwest Florida. Winter is busy season, summer is slow. No one wants to be here in the summer heat, which is fine by me. Considering this winter has thus far proved to be temperate at best, I am ready for the summertime heat and being able to lay out on the beach in a swimsuit, not a sweater, not to mention the minimization of the crowds. Wintertime here is absolutely nuts! It feels like August on the Med on a sunny day in March.

I suppose it's worse on a Sunday (this past Sunday was the first nice day in a long time). It's the day that everyone is out and about doing their beachy things. Everyone is trying to get in one last day of fun before they head back up north. We tried out the beach again today, a Tuesday. This time we headed to the slightly less crowded beaches of North Naples. Dave brought home a surprise the other day, an inflatable Sevylor paddleboard that he got with his West Marine discount. We already had paddles from his paddleboard making days in Washington. We were anxious to try it out so we headed down to the beach. Although it didn't look like the Spring Break crowd, there were still a good amount of people on the beach, which was a little intimidating for a paddleboard session with our new board. The last time either of us were on a paddleboard was Dave's test run on the pond at my Dad's house.

All went well. We didn't do anything too embarrassing such as looking like rookies, biffing it/falling in, carrying it the wrong way, using the paddle wrong, etc. This paddleboard is great, it packs up into a dry bag/backpack. You unroll it and pump it up until it is solid. It holds up to a 250 lb person. It was a perfect day out on the gulf. Overcast, but warm, not a breath of wind and the gulf was glowing green. I realized halfway to the beach that I didn't bring my camera, so I guess I will have to do a whole other blog on paddleboarding so you can see some pictures.

Instead of paddleboard pictures, I will just have to tempt you with an amazing meal that we put together last night. Karen and Mike are back in town, but Mike was heading back to Buffalo today so we decided to have a good family meal at home. They were in the mood for swordfish so we stopped at the local fish market, Randy's, and got four nice fillets.

I was having a hard time trying to figure out a sauce to serve with the swordfish. Mike just wanted his plain, with a little blackening seasoning on it, so that meant that we were serving the sauce on the side. I couldn't do my regular butter based sauces because it would separate and get coagulated if it sat too long. I also had to work with what I had on hand since we had already gone to the store. I would usually choose capers for a white fish, but alas, no capers were to be found. I found some Spanish olives and ended up using them for a nice salty bite. Here is what I came up with, and I watched as Mike tried a bit, then proceeded to dump a heavy spoonful on his second helping of fish. I will call it a Spanish version because of the olives and it just seems like it has a Spanish salsa flare. Success!

Spanish Style Swordfish

Serves 4

2 lbs Swordfish, Mahi Mahi, Sea Bass, or other white fish (plan on 1/2 lb per person)

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Blackening Seasoning - I prefer Zatarains or Old Bay

For the Salsa:

2 medium tomatoes

2 tbsp butter

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

1 green onion stalk

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup chopped Spanish olives with pimentos

1 wedge lime or lemon

Salt and Pepper

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cut top out of the tomatoes and place them top side down on a baking tray. Roast for 20 minutes until skin is split and starting to blacken. Put tomatoes in a blender or food processor and pulse a few times until tomatoes are chopped but not pureed.

Meanwhile, add butter to a saucepan and melt over medium heat. Add onion and saute for several minutes until tender. Add garlic and green onion and cook for a few more minutes to release the garlic aroma. Add the olives, tomatoes, red pepper flakes and lime. Cook over medium low heat until flavors have blended, a few minutes more.

In a separate sauce pan, melt butter with lemon. When butter is melted, brush over fish and sprinkle with desired amount of blackening seasoning. Preheat BBQ or grill to medium high. Cook fish on grill for about 5 minutes, depending on thickness, or until done.

Serve with salsa.