Mahi Mahi | Cecile's Cuisine

This week-end I sent my daughter to the grocery store to get me a few things. Not only did she come with the right ingredients;-), but she also brought some exotic fruits. She bought some star fruits as well as a pomegranate. I knew she loved pomegranate because she always begs me to get her some when they are in store, but I was so surprised that she took it on herself to buy star fruits. When i saw them, she said: “Look Mom, what I bought for you….” How sweet was that?!?! Of course i replied that she was so sweet and that we could do a mango or a lime cheesecake and that we could use those fancy star fruits as decoration;-)

Well two days ago, I found more star fruits in my fridge except that I still had not used the one that were already there so i asked her why she had bought more.. her reply was: “You were so happy to want to use them, and I really wanted to find out how they tasted that I bought some for me”.

Curious to find out that she knew how to eat them, I asked her if she even knew how to eat them ( because I sure do not… I have used them many times as decorations, but I never actually ate one..). She replied that she knew. Whoah, I would have fallen off my chair, had I been seating I was so surprised. She later confessed that she had looked it up on the internet and proceeded to explain to tell me what was the best way to eat them.

It seems that you need to trim the corners of all pointy sides. Then when you slice the fruit, you need to remove the seeds because they are a bit hard like those in certain grapes. That’s that easy. Well because of her, I ended up eating one and they tasted pretty good, a bit watery to my taste but I am glad I tasted one.

I am a very proud mom, and I know that my daughter is a jewel, but at that instant she made me so so proud. It was as if I was seeing a mini-me. She is paying attention in the grocery store, and just like me, she is curious and wants to know what new food tastes like. That’s definitely my baby girl;-)

Well, I got so busy this week-end that I never actually had time to fix that lime cheesecake and I did not have time to use those star fruits. Of course, they were starting to get brown spots which meant they had to be used pretty quickly. I had bought two beautiful pieces of Mahi Mahi, and thought that it would be fun to use that star fruit as salsa to accommodate that fish. So here it is:

Ingredients for 2: 2 large piece of Mahi, 2 lime juice, and zest, 2 tbsp of honey, 2 scallions chopped thinly, 2 star fruits, 1/2 cup of red currants, 1 tbsp of sherry wine, 1 tbsp of fresh basil chopped.

In a small bowl, mix the zest, the juice of one lime, 1 tbsp of honey and mix well. Pour the mixture over the fish filet and let the fish marinade for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Turn the oven to 400. After the fish has marinated, melt 1 tsp of butter in a small frying pan and sizzle the fish on all sides. Place the fish in the large round mold, sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on both filet. Cover the mold with the octogonal silpat and cook the fish in the oven for 10 minutes. The fish will be cooked as if “poached”.

While the fish is cooking, prepare the salsa.

Chop 2 star fruits. Add the currants, the lime and zest of 1 lime, the chopped scallions, 1 tbsp of honey, 1 tbsp of sherry wine and mix well.

I serve the fish over some couscous.

Couscous: 1 cup of couscous, 1/4 cup of almond sliced, 1 cup of water, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1 tbsp of butter.

Fill 1 cup of water in a container and microwave for 2 minutes or until the water is boiling ( you may also boil the water over the stove into a little saucepan). Place 1 cup of couscous into a bowl and pour the water over the couscous, the almond, the salt and the butter. Mix to fluff up the couscous.

To serve, place 1/2 of couscous on the plate. Place the filet on the couscous, and place the salsa over the fish. Eat!!!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!

After reading many of my entries, you may have noticed that:

1. I like to go grocery shopping every day so that I can get the freshest of ingredients.

2. I need to cook two meals a night because my family and I have different tastes.

3. I rather eat healthy.

4. I like to go to a store named Costco.

I am certain that you are finding very surprising the fact that I like such a store as French people like little boutiques and rather buy “a la piece” rather than in bulk. Well I love Costco because they have great products and the quality and the price is wonderful. It just happened that they also have the BEST fish in town. Their fish is fresh, it displays the packaging date, and it is twice as cheap as the grocery stores in town. On my routine trip to Costco, I was happy to find Mahi among their selection. Mahi at a reasonable price is a rare find! So guess what will be my dinner? Mahi Mahi.

I wanted to poach the Mahi and serve it with a citrus rice and a citrus compote but the lack of time made me use what I had on hand.

Ingredients for 2 people: 1 big piece of Mahi, 1 1/2 cups of roasted bell pepper salsa from Costco, 3/4 cup of white wine, 1/2 cup of brown rice, 1 1/2 cups of light broth, 1 small yellow onion diced very thinly, salt and pepper to taste.

I a small bowl, pour 1/2 cup of roasted red pepper salsa and 1/4 cup of white wine. Add 1/8 tsp of salt, 1/16 tsp of pepper. Stir well. Place the piece of Mahi Mahi in a ziploc bag, pour this mixture over it and place the bag in the fridge. Let it marinade for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the brown rice. You may cook the brown rice according to the package directions ( boiling water…) or you can cook the easy way and cook your rice in the round mold. Place the 1/2 cup of rice in the round mold, add 3/4 cup of warm broth in the round mold. Cover the round mold with the octogonal silpat and cook for 12 minutes. I want my rice al dente because I will cook it some more in the oven. If you want to cook your rice through, I would suggest cooking it for 15 minutes. Carefully remove the octogonal silpat and fluff up the rice. Place the marinated mahi over the rice. Cover the round mold again with the octogonal silpat and cook for 6-8 minutes in a warm oven at 375. It will achieve the same result as if you had poached your fish or cook it a l’etouffe.

While the Mahi is cooking, prepare the sauce that will go over your fish. You will need to first saute your onion in 1 tsp of olive oil. When the onions are golden and soft, add 1 tsp of flour and stir so as to brown the flour and coat the onions. Add 1/2 cup of warm broth, 1 cup of roasted bell pepper salsa and 1/2 cup of white wine. Bring to boil. Season to taste.

To serve the fish, spoon the rice on the plate first, then place the filet of Mahi on top and drizzle the sauce over the fish. Et voila!

Bon Appetit and Happy Cooking!!!