Years ago, the Hawthornes used to attend all the cooking classes held at the North Carolina Aquarium. During the off season, the Aquarium would host numerous classes featuring local chefs preparing something delicious and Piscean. Sadly, those classes ended when Covid started. Gladly, those classes, after 6 years, are back!
Johanna Lachine, of Johanna's Catering, conducted our first class this season. First on the menu was a velvety smooth, puréed cauliflower soup with a soupçon of truffle oil and studded with seared scallops. Our second delight was mahi mahi sautéed in Paul Prudhomme's Redfish Blackening Seasoning served with a refreshing tropical salsa and fried corn chips.
Johanna's puréed cauliflower soup with scallops. 
And her blackened mahi mahi with a mango/pineapple salsa.
And her blackened mahi mahi with a mango/pineapple salsa.
Today, I'm making the salsa and mahi mahi.
I'll be serving it with sautéed onion and red pepper and wilted spinach over an orange flavored rice.
The rice takes the longest, so I started on that first.
Instead of using water to cook my basmati rice in, I used orange juice so the rice could absorb the orange flavor. I thought that would be a nice counterpoint to the salsa and fish.
I'm going to sauté some chopped onion and red pepper in a little butter and drop in a handful or so of spinach just to wilt it and serve that with the rice.
Rosie's Seasoning
1 TB paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp Lawry's seasoning pepper
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Mix it all together and your seasoning is ready to dredge the mahi fillets through.
Next, the tropical salsa.
Tropical Salsa
1 small pineapple
1 mango
1 small red pepper
1 small yellow or orange pepper
1/2 red onion
1 jalapeno
juice of 1 lime
3 TB chopped cilantro
1 TB honey
pinch salt
Small dice pepper, onion, mango, and pineapple.
Mince jalapeno.
Combine.
Season with lime, honey, and salt.
Let sit for at least an hour so the flavors can blend.
I didn't use the entire pineapple, maybe 1/2, and I froze the remaining dices to use in smoothies.
Tropical salsa is ready.
This is good with tortilla chips too.
Adjust seasonings however you like.
Dredge mahi mahi fillets through seasoning mix.
For blackening, I like an iron skillet.
Heat the skillet with about a tablespoon of peanut oil to 375° - 400°.
Place fillets in and cook 3-4 minutes each side.
I like to add in a bit of butter for flavor.
Let fillets rest a few minutes before serving.
While the fillets were resting, I made a quick side to go along with the rice.
Bring a little butter to a sizzle and sauté some chopped onion and red pepper for about 2 minutes.
Drop in a handful or two of spinach, turn off the heat, and cover.
Let the spinach wilt for a minute or so and plate.
Spoon tropical salsa over the mahi.
Make a bed of spinach and add the rice.
I thought Johanna's mahi mahi was delicious and I loved the combination of flavors.
And it was better than mine.
I found mine to be a tad on the fishy side.
And I think I know why.
Mahi mahi is not in season now so what was on display at Harris Teetered had been frozen. I'm OK with that, but when I got the fillets home, I noticed the bottom still had the skin on it. I didn't know that when I bought the fish, because it was on the bottom and I never saw it. I skinned the fillets, of course, before blackening, but the skin left on was the problem.
So, after I cooked the first batch of mahi mahi, I took the rest of the fillets, skinned them, and let them bathe in milk overnight. The next day, I drained the fillets, seasoned, and cooked them and the fishy taste was gone.
So there's a tip for you. Don't buy frozen fish with the skin on if you can help it and, if you do, try a milk bath to get rid of the fishy taste.
And now, enjoy the aquarium exhibits:
My personal favorites?
The pink jelly fish.
I want a whole wall of pink jelly fish in my home.
