SAM ON THE RADIO:
Cooking to Beat the Clock on A Chef's Table

Fresh Herbs in the Pantry:
Grilled Swordfish and New Potatoes with Dill 

You might think the only herbs you can keep in your well-stocked, 15-minute meal pantry are dried herbs. But the refrigerator is part of your pantry too. And it keeps fresh herbs for a week, sometimes longer.

Though most supermarkets have a decent year-round selection of fresh herbs, nothing beats locally grown herbs in summer. Basil might be the ultimate herb this time of year, particularly when paired with tomatoes. My wife and I love uncooked pasta sauce made with tomatoes, basil, and garlic. For a simple and delicious summer salad, alternate slices of tomatoes and fresh mozzarella with basil leaves, then sprinkle everything with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Pesto, the sauce of basil, pine nuts (or walnuts), garlic, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese, is a snap in the food processor or blender.

While most fresh herbs should be stored in plastic bags in the crisper section of your refrigerator, basil will keep at room temperature for a week with this method from my friend Janet Fletcher, author of “Fresh from the Farmers’ Market.” Put a bunch of unwashed basil in a large plastic bag. Blow up the bag with air as you would a balloon and quickly secure the bag at the top with a twist tie.

After basil, my favorite herb is thyme. Put it in vinaigrettes for salads or grilled vegetables. Mix it with other herbs like chives and parsley for herb butter, great on grilled fish. Or add it to steamed shellfish. Occasionally, I’ll stick whole thyme sprigs under the skin of chicken breasts before they are roasted or grilled.

Dill is particularly good for quick and cool summertime dishes like tomato-cucumber or cucumber-yogurt salads, even coleslaw. I also like it in cold cucumber soup and cold beet soup, neither of which require cooking. Fish, especially salmon, goes well with dill, as do vegetables like carrots or new potatoes (see recipe below).

Parsley doesn’t get the respect it deserves, probably because we’ve seen it too often as a perfunctory garnish. But it is an immensely versatile herb. I prefer the more robust flat-leaf or Italian-style parsley to the curly variety as substitute for basil in pesto, tossed with steamed or boiled vegetables like cauliflower or potatoes, or added to vinaigrettes or sauces like the one below for swordfish. Garlic is a natural partner for parsley, especially in an easy-as-pie linguine with clam sauce made with canned clams.

The following is a great quick summer meal because the gas grill heats up fast and keeps the kitchen cool while it cooks the swordfish. The fish can also be cooked in a ridged cast iron skillet on top of the stove.

Grilled Swordfish and New Potatoes with Dill

11/4 pounds golf-ball size new potatoes
1 teaspoon plus additional salt
Four swordfish steaks, about 6 ounces each
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
6 to 8 sprigs fresh dill, enough for 1/4 cup when chopped
1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
11/2 tablespoons butter

1)Run the hot water tap while you put the potatoes in a large saucepan. (Halve any potatoes that are too large.) Barely cover the potatoes with the hot tap water, add 1 teaspoon salt, cover, and put over high heat. Cook 13 minutes or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a knife. (Or put 1/4 cup water and 1 teaspoon salt in a microwave safe dish. Add the potatoes, cover, and cook at high power for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a knife.

2)Meanwhile, spray the grate of a gas grill with oil spray. Turn the grill on and cover. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Set aside.

3)Put the wine in a small, heavy saucepan over high heat until it reduces by half. Turn off the heat. Meanwhile, chop the parsley. Chop the dill. Juice the lemon half. Put the fish on the grill and cook for 2 minutes on each side.

4)Add the parsley, lemon juice, and oregano to the saucepan with the wine. Whisk in the oil. Season with salt and pepper.

5)When the swordfish steaks are done, put them on a platter. Cover with foil to keep warm until the potatoes are done. Drain the cooked potatoes and combine them with the dill, butter, and salt and pepper to taste in the saucepan. Cover and shake the pan. Pour the olive oil sauce over the swordfish and serve with the potatoes.

Serves 4.

Per serving: 505 calories, 40 grams protein, 26 grams carbohydrate,  26 grams fat,  6.6 grams saturated fat, 85 mg cholesterol,  517 mg sodium.