Pistachio Crusted Mahi Mahi, Sauteed Squash And Zucchini With Red Onion, Basil, And Mint, Fresh Corn Custards, And A Watermelon/Tomato/Red Onion Salsa

Let's cut to the chase, shall we?

The Hawthornes' dinner.

Any guesses as to what this is?
 Oh please.
Play with me.
 Guess!

Let's start dinner.
 Pretend it's Sunday afternoon.
 Cooking is not about recipes.
Cooking is about sharing and giving.
 Cooking is a process.
 Not a recipe.
 Welcome to the mind of Rosie - a very scary place to be
. I'm going to show you in this post
 what my thought process is when coming up with a menu.
 I give you no "recipes," per se.
 I give you ... me.

We'd bought 8 ears of corn for $2 at HT the other day.
 Had three left.
Mr. H. cut the kernels off for me.
 And yes, I have something in mind.

Three ears yielded about 2 cups of corn.

I still don't know where I'm going.
 I'm just seeing what I have and gathering and assembling.
 Here I have a squash, a zucchini, basil, mint, and dill.
 Oh, and the corn in the background.

Bacon is always good.
 Very good. Just a few snip, snips.

Cook to a nice crisp bakey-wakey.
Which this hasn't gotten to yet.

Ahhh.
 Drain on paper towels.

Rosie expands her mise en place
 from corn, bacon, squash, zucchini,
 red onion, basil, mint, and dill
to eggs, milk, and cream.

Mr. Hawthorne wanted me to get the waves.

I'm thinking I actually used three eggs,
 not two as shown.
 I added 1/2 cup 1/2% milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream.

Mr. Hawthorne loves his waves.

Some grated nutmeg.

Remember.
 This is my process.
 No recipes.
 Just thoughts.

My lovely dried up green jalapeno
 that turned a wrinkly red
 and my vibrant fresh green basil.

I've taken the dried up jalapeno,
 sliced it, and scraped out the seeds,  then minced,
AND I've chiffonaded the basil.
 This mixture will be going into the corn.
 Do you have any idea what I'm making?

Mr. Hawthorne wiped off the basil and dried red jalapeno.

Corn.
 Red jalapeno.
 Basil. 
 

Liquid mixture goes into corn:
 1/2 cup 1/2% milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 eggs

And the crisp bacon.

Rosie is positively horrible at ladling
 and photographing simultaneously.
 I tried this once before with the POPOVERS
and failed miserably.
 At least I'm consistent.

Rosie messes up the muffin pan.

Cheddar cheese on the muffins.
And some chopped red onions.
350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until set.

Rosie must draw her ingredients near.

And figger out where she's going.

Peel the squash and zucchini.

Cube it.
 I'm ready to cook.
 I'm sauteeing the squash and zucchini
and adding the red onion and basil, mint, and dill.
 I'm figgerin' dinner is 30 minutes away.
Works for me, since I'm cooking.
 Need to do the veggies and the mahi-mahi.

 Arrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!!!
  Wrench thrown in.
  A Spawn wants to eat.
  Immediately. 
  Mr. Hawthorne acquiesces.
 

He actually NUKED a hot dog,
 nuked a marvelous chili he usually has on hand,
toasted a whole wheat bun, and mustarded the bun.

The Spawn ate and left.

 Back to my corn custard muffins: 

I baked them in a 350 degree oven for about 35 - 40 minutes.

I find them attractive.

Creamy, corny custard
 with the bacon and red onion and red dried jalapeno
 and OH the cheese.
 Corn muffins done.
 On to the fish - Pistachio/Panko Encrusted Mahi Mahi

Panko breadcrumbs in the Tupperware.

I added crushed pistachios to the Panko.

And some more since I liked this picture too.

 Now, remember.
This post is about my process.
 Not a recipe.
These are the processes I deal with:

Giada and Junior. Sniffin'.

Giada tending to business.
 Junior - tending to business.

Junior back to check with Giada.

Giada posing.
Now, back to my regularly scheduled food:

Remember I mixed Panko and crushed pistachios?
 Add in the zest of a lemon.

Here are my mahi mahi fillets.
 I'm separating them here.

Now I'm taking out the fishy, oily bloodline.

Mr. Hawthorne couldn't stand it that I was doing the trimming
 and came in and muscled me out.

Trim away, Mr. Hawthorne.

Job well done, you credit whore, you!

Mr. Hawthorne's pristine mahi mahi fillets.

Remember. I'm winging it
 and you are reading Rosie's Process unfold.
How utterly fabulous you most feel!
I know I got the tinglies just typing that.
Top left - cubed squash and zuke.
Top right - trimmed, cleaned mahi mahi fillets.
 Bottom - basil, red onion, mint.

 Back to the fish:

I added a bit of basil to the panko/pistachio mix.

Put the mahi mahi in.

Cover and toss.
 Set aside.
 Next time?
I'd crush the pistachios finer.

 Start on veggie dish:

Melt LOLUB* in some ELBOO* to sizzling.

Add in cubed squash and zucchini.

Cook about a minute.

Add in about a tablespoon of sugar.

Slide in red onions, basil, and mint.

Salt and pepper.
 Quick stir.

I really liked this.
 The s & z were delightfully slightly resistant to the bite.
The sugars, both added and natural, resonated.
 Once, I'd get a taste of basil.
Then, I'd get a taste of mint.
 The sweet red onions were quite pleasant.

This was happy food.  
Veggie dish - done.

  Back to the mahi mahi:

I melted LOLUB* in some ELBOO* and added the coated fillets.

Minced some dill.

 While I was a-doin' all of that,
 I espied the watermelon Mr. Hawthorne
 picked up at Food Lion.
 Imonna make me some salsa:

Red onion, watermelon, tomato. 
 

Chop it up.
 Add s & p.
 Plate:

Corn muffin in the back.
Squashes on the right.
 Pistachio-encrusted mahi mahi middle left.
 Watermelon salsa left front.
 Dill sprinkled in the forefront.

I liked it all.
 I liked each serving. 
And I liked the servings with each other.
 Just a whole lot of flavors that worked. 
 

My corny custardy muffin.
With basil and jalapeno.
 

And the veggies.
 

Good eats.
 

*LOLUB = Land o' Lakes Unsalted Butter
 *ELBOO = Extra Light Bertolli Olive Oil