Rosie Cooks Dinner For Maxine & Co.

Last night, I cooked for Maxine and her Gentleman Friend,
Chronos Onassis, distant kin of Aristotle O., the hubby of Jackie K.


I must tell you, Rosie was beside herself.

I had a hard time in Danville trying to find suitable protein.
I wanted fish.
Specifically, Mahi-Mahi.
I went to Super WalMart.
No go.
Then I looked for the darn seafood store which I knew was somewhere real near, but the roads weren't cooperative.
I knew it was SOMEWHERE.
Just not exactly WHERE.

And after 25 plus years of not living in Danville, I must admit, Danville's made some changes.
The best, I think, being the Danville ByPass,
if you catch my drift.

At any rate, I'm looking for a seafood store I know used to be
somewhere around where I'm circling.
No can find.


So, I ended up going to Harris Teeter.
Asked the gentleman behind the counter for Mahi-Mahi.
He only had one Mahi package left.
He did have a Wahoo package.
I purchased both.
Now, I have a plan.

Since we're having fish for dinner, and fried at that,
I decided to make a Remoulade Sauce.

Here are my ingredients:

celery
onion
garlic
mayo
coarse ground mustard
capers
white vinegar
cumin
coriander
cayenne

I minced some celery with some garlic.

Chopped some red onion.

I Cuisinarted the celery, garlic, and onion,
then added in the capers.

Add in some coarse-grained, brown mustard.

Add in the mayo and the spices:
cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt and pepper.
And there's my (NOT) Remoulade Sauce, courtesy of Mark, owner of Lucky 12 Tavern.



Next up, my Tartar Sauce.

Mayo, chopped red onion, minced dills and sweet relish.


Now, here's where I got pissed off.

After searching high and low for Mahi Mahi, I finally found a sad little package at Harris Teeter.

I get the fillet out of the package, and low and behold, when I turn it over, there's the easily concealed skin on the bottom.
Damn butchers.

So, I deftly skinned the fish.

Next up, Wahoo..

I unpackaged the fish, and, once again, turned it over to expose the left-on skin.

For crying out loud, Butcher/FishmongerNOT/HEWHOCANNOTBEBOTHERED!

THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!

The worst part is what the fishmongerNOT, left in the fish:
the BLOOD VEIN.

Look at this.
I've skinned it. And now, the dark, deeper colored Vee meat in the middle must be removed.
This is the Blood Vein.
It is usually unpalatable.
Depending on the type of fish, it can be - to different degrees and strengths - oily, fishy, or just plain nasty.
I always remove it.
Actually, I've never found it at seafood stores here.
They know better.

I'm making a batter for my Mahi Mahi and Wahoo.
Mr. H. and I like McCormick's Fish and Chips batter mix.
Instead of adding water (as per McCormick's) I add in beer.

After skinning, de-veining, de-tendoning (Yes, part of the wahoo looked like it had tendons on it.) and de-silverskinning (And, yes, part of the wahoo had what looked like a membrane on it.),
and overall, just getting the fish ready for presentation,
I finally rinsed off the fillets in cold water, then drained on paper towels, and salt and peppered.
Sliced into strips.
After the fish is dry, place in batter and coat thoroughly.

Very Important: Before battering anything, be sure it's dry.
That way, the batter sticks to the meat.

Heat up oil to 350-375 degrees.

Then, put in a few fish strips.

Allow to brown.

About 2-3 minutes.

Drain on paper towels.
I also fried up the left over batter for yummy chips.

Here's Maxine's table.
And the view from her side of the table.
Those two small, shallow bowls contain malt vinegar.
I dip my fried fish into that,
and it is delicious.

Here's the view from my seat.
I, of course, have the best fried pieces on the cutting board immediately to my left.
On the table, I have a broccoli salad casserole, Remoulade sauce, and Tartar sauce.
This was quite good, if I do say so myself.