Smoked Swordfish Tostaditas Food

SMOKED SWORDFISH TOSTADITAS

Steps:

• Place chile and 1 tomato in a small saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until tomato is burst and chile is soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add hoja santa. Let cool slightly, then blend tomato, chile, and hoja santa with 1 cup cooking liquid until smooth.
• Halve remaining tomato, squeeze or scoop out seeds, and chop flesh. Finely chop half of leek and add to tomato; slice other half lengthwise into thin strips about 1 1/2" long.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low and cook onion, carrot, and chopped leek and tomato. Cook, stirring often and reducing heat if vegetables start to take on any color, until tomato is falling apart and vegetables cook down, 25-30 minutes.
• Season vegetable mixture with salt and increase heat to medium-high; add garlic. Cook, stirring, until garlic is golden brown, about 2 minutes.
• Add swordfish and tomato puree. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring often, until liquid is almost completely absorbed, 8-12 minutes. Stir in vinegar; taste and adjust with salt and more vinegar if needed. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, use cutter to punch out circles from tortillas (you should have about 24). Heat vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. Working in batches, fry tortilla rounds until puffed and crisp, about 30 seconds per side. Transfer to paper towels to drain; season with salt.
• Working in batches, cook leek strips in same oil until golden brown and crisp, about 2 minutes. Transfer to paper towels; season with salt.
• To serve, top each tostadita with a dollop of avocado cream and a small spoonful of swordfish mixture. Garnish with fried leeks.
• Do Ahead: Swordfish mixture can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.

HOT SMOKED SWORDFISH WITH WHITE CLAM-GARLIC-PARSLEY SAUCE

Steps:

• For the swordfish: Stir together 8 cups water, the salt, sugar and peppercorns in a deep pot. Bring to a boil just to dissolve the salt and sugar; cool completely. Submerge the swordfish in the brine. Refrigerate for 12 hours.
• Remove the swordfish from the brine and rinse well under cold water. Pat dry and allow to air dry for at least 1 hour. The exterior of the fish should feel sticky to the touch before smoking.
• Prepare a smoker with maplewood chips and to an internal temperature of 200 to 225 degrees F.
• Brush the fish very lightly with canola oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Smoke the fish for about 2 hours, adding chips through the first hour as necessary. You can keep adding chips the second hour if you prefer a much smokier flavor. Transfer the smoked fish to a large platter.
• For the clam sauce: Remove the meat from half the clams and chop roughly. Heat the canola oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the garlic and chile and cook for a few seconds. Add the chopped clams and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add the wine, bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half.
• Add the whole clams, cover the saucepan and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the clams open, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the butter. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped parsley and lemon zest. Taste, and season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over and around the smoked swordfish, and scatter the parsley leaves on top.