Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" may be over but in honor of the just concluded 2010 edition of this popular annual event, I have a recipe idea that has a bite! I was in my favorite fish market last week and happened to come across some nice fresh mako shark steaks. Thinking what a coincidence it was, seeing that it was "Shark Week," I thought why not make dinner with those steaks. With a pound and a half of those steaks in hand, I thought long and hard about some recipe ideas on the drive home. Here's a picture of those steaks in their raw state:
Notice the thick leathery dark skin on those steaks. So, I figured that since these steaks were quite similar in texture to swordfish, I decided the best cooking method for them was to fire up the old Weber grill. First, I seasoned the steaks with some spicy seasonings that is made up of garlic and onion powder, red chili flakes, paprika, cumin, coriander, cilantro and vegetable oil. The steaks were about an inch thick, so cooking them all the way on the grill was not going to happen unless you like charcoal shark steaks. After getting good grill marks and letting the seasoning work itself into the steaks, I took them off the grill and finished them in the oven. One method that you can also try is to grill the steaks on low heat by moving the charcoal to one side and cooking the fish on the other side of the grill, away from direct contact with the heat and flames. Cover the grill and let the smokiness infuse into the fish.
Once that is done, I started working on a side dish to go with the shark steaks. Looking through my fridge, I found a head of cauliflower that I had bought just a few days back and decided to go with that. First, I blanched the cauliflower florets in a pot of boiling salted water just to soften it a little. After removing the cauliflower from the pot and cooling it down with cold water, I added 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 4 cloves of garlic (rough chop), half an onion (diced), salt and pepper. Mixing all these ingredients up thoroughly, I popped them into the oven to roast for about 10 minutes at 350F. To get a nice browning on the vegetables, I finish it up with about 2 minutes or less under the broiler.
Finally, I fried some dried anchovies and cut up some scallions and added them to the roasted cauliflower when I was ready to serve. You can also add some red chili flakes for some spiciness. And there you have it, grilled mako shark steak with roasted cauliflower and anchovies.
