“Bistro Cooking” with Patricia Wells – Swordfish with Piperade Review

First, thanks to Bernadette for her terrific “Cookbook confidential” review series, which this month is focus on “Bistro Cooking.”

I have many cookbooks from Writer / Chef Patricia Wells.  Her focus on Parisian and Provencal cooking is a terrific way to taste the flavors of France.

I was very excited to have Bernadette pick “Bistro Cooking” by Patricia Wells because I had the chance to cook with her at her house!

Bistro food can sometimes be heavier, like this provencal frog legs dish…delicious, but not for early fall.

Instead, I went for a terrific recipe with tuna and a classic sauce made from fresh vegetables.This dish is light, fresh and very flavorful as well!

“Thon a L’Ail Arrantzaleak, Sauce Piperade” is grilled Tuna in a piperade sauce – and of course, the day I had scheduled to prepare it there was no fresh tuna available!

However, no worry as swordfish was a perfect substitute.  Let’s get cooking!

Ingredients for the main course:

I lb tuna steak – or swordfish!

Peanut or olive oil

Black pepper

20 large garlic cloves

I tbl. Red wine vinegar

For the Sauce Piperade:

2 small, mildly hot green chiles

6 tbl. Extra-virgin olive oil

2 lbs. Tomatoes, peeled, cored, seeded and chopped

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

3 large bell pepper, cored, halved, seed and cut lengthwise into thin slices

3 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

First, let’s make the Piperade:

Cut the tops of the chiles, slice in half lengthwise and remove all seeds – then cut chiles into very thin strips

In a large skillet, heat 2 tbl. of the oil over medium heat, add tomatoes and simmer uncovered for ten minutes

In a medium skillet, heat 2 tbl of oil then add the onions and cook until light golden, about 10 minutes

In another medium skillet, heat 2 tbl. of the oil and cook the chiles and bell peppers until soft and tender, about 10 minutes…yes, I had three pans going at once – take a look!

This was actually fun – do you really need to cook them separately? I always listen to the Chef!

Add the onions and peppers to the tomato mix…stir in the raw minced garlic and season with salt and pepper…cook uncovered over low heat for one hour, stirring occasionally…it looks beautiful when done…

This Piperade can be taken off the heat as you prepare the Tuna / Swordfish

Lightly brush both sides of your fish with olive oil, and season generously with pepper

Broil on a grill (or you can pan sear as I did) until fish begins to turn opaque, about five minutes per side

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tbl. of oil then add garlic and stir them so they are coated with the oil, then saute until light golden, about 4-5 minutes

This smells as good as it looks:

Add the red wine vinegar to deglaze the pan.

Sprinkle the tuna /swordfish with salt, put on a warmed platter and pour the garlic sauce over the fish

You finish the dish by adding the Piperade to the top of the fish or serve it on the side…I served my fish on top of fettucine, as the garlic sauce worked well on it!

This was delicious, the garlic sauce giving a richness to the dish – and the piperade is zesty with a slight spicy bite to it – and the leftover can be used for any kind of meat or fish as well. The entire cookbook is filled with classic French dishes that are fun and mostly easy to prepare – the also present very well for guests!

Thanks for choosing the cookbook Bernadette!

See Bernadette’s great “cookbook confidential series here:

As I said, I was lucky to attend a week of cooking adventures with my wife Alex – held at the Provencal home of Patricia Wells and her husband Walter. That’s her showing me how to toss a salad, while fellow attendee Wendy diced up herbs…I just mugged to the camera! Oh, and about the apron: I mis-read their request for the name on it and gave them my whole name!

Alex harvested fresh eggplant from Patricia’s garden!

It was a memorable week, exploring the flavors of the south of France – joining ten other cooks to make fun lunches and dinners for a week in the south of France!

I also had the great fortune to cook on a stove owned by Julia Child – which she gave to Wells!

You can see our entire Provencal cooking adventure with Patric but clicking here:

Another fun and delicious recipe from Wells was this classic Provencal Pan Bagnat – click here for the origin story and recipe!

Another great Provencal dish is “fish in crazy water!”

It’s light and refreshing – click on my story for the recipe and why they call it “crazy water!”

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Thanks to Bernadette for overseeing the cookbook review series – if you like it please share on social media!

Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Chef memoirs, Cookbooks, Eat This!, Fine Dining, Food, Food Writing, Recipes, Travel, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food

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