Fish in Iowa? Chef Wade Takes Over K&K Kitchen

Guest cooks are absolutely welcome in K&K Kitchen.

There is, however, one fairly important rule: if you take over the kitchen, you had better bring it.

Wade did.

Fish. In Iowa.

My best friend Wade was in town and decided he wanted fish for dinner. That sounds simple enough until you remember that we live in Iowa.

We made a few runs through international markets around Des Moines looking for something that felt worth building dinner around. Nothing quite did it. Eventually we headed to Waterfront Seafood Market in Ankeny, where Wade found exactly what he was looking for: a beautiful chunk of swordfish.

Game on.

Chef Wade Takes Over

Back at K&K Kitchen, Wade pretty much owned the meal.

He started with rice from the new rice cooker he had insisted I needed. I may have rolled my eyes at the time, but I have now used the damn thing in multiple recipes, so apparently Wade gets to take a victory lap on that one.

That rice became an absolutely killer fried rice — the kind where everything is cooked just right, nothing is mushy, and every bite has a little something going on.

I had also picked up some shrimp, so those got the first turn in the hot oil.

Then came Wade’s swordfish.

Wade cut it into beautiful fillets and gave them a light fry, keeping the fish meaty and tender instead of burying it under a bunch of breading. Swordfish already eats more like a steak than a delicate flaky fish, and this treatment let it stay the star of the plate.

He finished the whole thing with a fresh Asian-style slaw over the top. Crunch, acidity, fresh vegetables, rich fried rice, and that swordfish underneath it all — it just worked.

Chef Wade — We Heard You

The final plate was fantastic.

This was not one of those dinners where everybody politely says, “Yeah, that was pretty good.” It was one of those meals where you keep eating even though you know you’re full because the next bite still sounds like a good idea.

So yes: guest cooks in K&K Kitchen are welcome when they produce a final product like this one.

Chef Wade — we heard you.

The Leftover Encore

The story did not end when Wade headed back home.

We ate the leftovers for several days, and that swordfish kept finding new ways to be good. The final photo is my contribution to the aftermath: a phenomenal leftover swordfish sando.

Because if Wade is going to leave behind swordfish that good, I am damn sure not letting it go to waste.

The Verdict

Fresh swordfish in Iowa. Wade in the kitchen. Fried rice from the rice cooker he insisted I needed. Asian slaw on top. And leftovers that turned into one hell of a sandwich.

That is a K&K Kitchen guest-cook episode all day long.