Preparing Swordfish Veracruz with My Joule Sous Vide from Costco

My family and I love eating fish, especially meaty ones like swordfish. But, I’ve struggled to find a good way to cook it until I purchased my Joule Sous Vide from Costco. 

In the past, when I tried to make swordfish, I ended up with fish that was either overdone or undercooked. No one wants to eat that! But, since my husband bought swordfish steaks the other day and had no idea how to cook it, I decided to give my new sous vide a try. 

What a bargain!

What is a Sous Vide? 

The first step for Veracruz swordfish is to fill a pot almost to the top. Then, attach the Joule Sous Vide to the pot. I set the sous vide to the ideal temperature to 130˚ F – as suggested by the Joule app. Once the water temperature was where I wanted it, I put the swordfish in a plastic bag and submerged it into the water.  I let it cook for 30 minutes. 

If you’ve never used a sous vide, you’re not alone. This French term, pronounced soo-veed, translates into ‘under vacuum’. It is a cooking technique that has been around for years and involves using a vacuum-sealed plastic bag that is placed in a water bath. The sous-vide machine sets the water to a precise temperature so the food cooks evenly. 

Joule Sous Vide In Action

Why Chefs Love Them

Chefs swear by their sous-vide cookers because their food is always cooked perfectly, even though the temperatures are significantly lower than those used on grills and stove tops. I knew that with the sous vide I wouldn’t have to worry about the steaks being overdone on the outside and under-cooked on the inside or overcooking delicate pieces of fish like snapper.

As large steaks cook so well with this method, steakhouses are now using the sous vide method to prepare them precisely for their guests. Steakhouses are using sous vides at various temperature baths for different levels of doneness. They will have a bath with steaks that are medium-rare, one with medium steaks and so on. When someone orders a steak henare, the chef takes the steak out of the bath, and quickly sears it on the grill prior to being delivered to the table. 

The beauty of the sous vide is that the water-bath temperature stays the same. You can walk away and do other things while your food is cooking for a set period of time. Even when the food is done, you can leave it in the water bath and in some cases, food can stay in the bath for up to two hours.

A True Independence Day

Some other great perks of my Joule Sous Vide is that it also comes with a ton of recipes. For example I simply type in swordfish and a recipe will come out with suggestions of simple herbs and spices to place in the bag with my fish.

Another major plus is that you can cook food from frozen. Simply select that option in the app. This feature totally saved me on this past Fourth of July when I had a bunch of hungry guests over and nothing but frozen hamburgers that were not thawing out in time because they were so thick. My solution. I threw those babies in my Sous Vide frozen set it for medium-rare and then grilled them for about a minute on each side and had perfectly cooked burgers and these burgers were about 1.5” thick!!

I was able to spend more time with my guests and less time by the grill. My guests were so impressed.  I paid $200 for my Joule Sous Vide, but, a few days after I brought the Sous Vide home, Costco offered it for $50 less. I sent a quick email to Costco’s online customer service and they issued a credit. Save your receipts, my friends. 

Preparing the Veracruz

Swordfish Veracruz Recipe

Ingredients 

  • 1 tbsp olive oil to rub on fish.
  • Two swordfish steaks 
  • Two thyme sprigs
  • Salt and pepper to taste
A small amount of pepper goes a long way for the sauce.

For the sauce

  • 2 tbsp ¼ cup Extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ white onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, drained
  • ¼ cup pitted and sliced green olives or black olives
  • Two tbsp capers with  juice 
  • 1 scotch bonnet pepper or habanero finely chopped. Remove or keep seeds for desired heat.
  • 2 tsp fresh or dried oregano
  • Juice of two limes

Directions

Prepare the Swordfish

  1. Fill a large pot with water and place Sous Vide to start water bath. Set temperature to 130˚ F for flaky texture or as suggested by Sous Vide manufacturer to desired doneness. 
  2. Season the fish with salt and pepper and rub with olive oil. 
  3. Place in a vacuum-sealed or large (gallon size) plastic storage bag with two sprigs of thyme.
  4. When set temperature is reached, submerge fish in water bath. Set timer for 30 min.
What a wonderful looking swordfish steak.

For the sauce

  1. Heat oil in large skillet until hot but not smoking
  2. Stir in onion and cook until fragrant. About 5 minutes
  3. Add garlic, tomatoes, and capers with juice. Cook for 5-7 minutes. Stir frequently.
  4. Add scotch bonnet/habanero pepper and oregano. Stir and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Top with juice from one lime. 
  5. When swordfish is done, remove and place onto a baking dish. Top with sauce and serve.
  6. I suggest serving atop a bed of jasmine rice with a side of roasted asparagus or salad.
A dish almost too good looking to eat… almost!

My Final Thoughts

I’m glad I purchased the Joule Sous Vide as it gives me another way to cook delicious food. But, this small appliance has not captured my heart as much as the Cuisinart Waffle Maker. I love that I can cook something touchy like a swordfish steak and not have to keep my eye on it as it cooks. The sous vide is a great product, but the cost could be prohibitive for some people.