Mahi Tacos With Fruit Salsa And A Lime And Cumin Sour Cream Sauce.

On the menu today, we have seared mahi bites on a puffy taco with a fruit salsa.

 Youngest Hawthorne went deep-sea fishing last week and, being the Great White Hunter/Fisherman that he is, came home with LOTS of mahi mahi.

Photo and fish by
Youngest Hawthorne.
Truly, a beautiful fish.

 Previously, I made fried mahi bites.

Sweet, tender meat
with a crisp, light coating.
Doesn't get much better than this.

Oh wait...
It does!

Let's cook seared mahi mahi, tuck it inside a puffy taco,

and spoon on a fruit salsa and a seasoned sour cream sauce.

First, the puffy tacos.

I'm using regular flour tortillas here.

The secret is in the HEAT!

Pour about 1/8 - 1/4 inch of peanut oil in your pan

and crank it up to about 400° - 450°.

Yes.  You read that correctly.

The hotter the better.

Peanut oil is my go-to oil.  Neutral flavor and high smoke point.

Gently and ever-so-carefully, slide the tortilla into the hot oil.

And watch.

The air inside is trapped so it blows up like a balloon.

Turn over and brown the other side.

Then turn back over and brown any parts you might have missed.

 

You sort of roll the tortilla around in the hot oil.

And drain.

And there you have puffy tacos!

I'm going to lightly toss the mahi bites in seasoned flour,

then sear them in hot oil.

For the seasoned coating:

Mix together:

1/4 cup corn starch

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Mix all ingredients in a container, add the mahi pieces (about 1-inch cuts),

and toss to evenly coat.

Film a skillet with oil and heat to 350° - 375°.

Working in batches, add in the pieces one at a time so as not to drastically decrease the oil temperature.

And don't crowd the pan!

Cook about 1 minute on each side.

Remove from pan and drain.

Sort of fold the puffy tacos, add the fish bits, drizzle with the sour cream sauce,

and spoon on the fruit salsa.

Don't forget the lemon!

Sour Cream Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup sour cream

1 inch cube ginger

juice and zest of 1/2 lime

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chili powder

fresh chopped cilantro, to taste

For the ginger, I peel it, slice it, then run it through a garlic press, using all the juice, and the first scrapings of the fresh pulp.  The drier pulp I discard.

Mix all ingredients.

If you're not a fan of the cilantro, use parsley.

Mint would go nicely with this also.

Rosie's Fruit Salsa

2 kiwis, peeled and finely chopped

equal amount of fresh chopped pineapple (OK, you can use canned if you must.)

2 TB sweet red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 TB minced jalapeño

1 TB chopped red onion

juice and zest of 1/2 lime

Mix all ingredients.

As for the jalapeño heat factor, you can make this as hot as you like.

The heat is in the white ribs and seeds.  If you don't want it so hot, avoid these parts and just use the green. 

 Rosie Tip:  If you don't grow your own jalapeños and are picking them out of the produce department, here's a tip on finding hot peppers:  Don't get a smooth, solid green pepper.  Look for the white, wrinkly lines on the surface of the pepper.  That means it's HOT!

I love mahi!

Enjoy!

Rosie Makes Fried Mahi. As Fresh As It Gets.

Isn't that a beautiful fish?

Photo and fish courtesy of Youngest Hawthorne.

This is a dolphin fish,

AKA mahimahi, its Pacific name,

which means "very strong" in Hawaiian.

FYI, this fish was caught about 30 miles off shore.

Here's what we're making today.

Beer-batter fried mahi bites.  (Actually, they're about two-biters.)

The batter is light and crisp and perfectly complements the tender sweet meat of fish.

I'm serving it with cole slaw and two dipping sauces - a cocktail sauce and a remoulade.

Here's how to:

The mahi was filleted and cut into small uniform chunks.  About 1 1/2 inch cubes.  They're bigger than "bites."  They're maybe "two-biters."

Here's my batter:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
pinch or two of kosher salt
1 tsp dried mustard
1/2 tsp cayenne
about a cup of beer
Whisk all dry ingredients together, then slowly stir in beer.  About a cup.  You know - until it "looks right."   Kinda like pancake batter.

Drop in the chunks of mahi.
When adding to the hot oil, pick up each piece of fish individually and let the excess batter drain off before gently easing into the oil.  One at a time.

It's important to have the oil at the proper temperature.
This is peanut oil heated to 375°.
My fry pot is a heavy pot, 8-inch diameter, 4 inches deep, with at least 2 inches of oil in it.
Peanut oil is always my oil of choice.  It's a neutral-flavored oil with a high smoke point.

Fry in small batches about 2 - 2 1/2 minutes.
Drain on a rack.

Fried perfection!

For my cole slaw, I shred about two cups worth of cabbage, julienne a carrot, finely mince a little bit of celery (about a tablespoon), and finely chop about half a red pepper.  I like the red for the color and flavor.  For the dressing, I don't really measure, but here's what I think would be the amounts of the ingredients:  1/3 - 1/2 cup mayonnaise (Hellmann's), about 2 tsp cider vinegar, about 2 tsp sugar, pinch kosher salt, good grind of pepper, and my "secret" ingredient which really isn't a secret - a splash of buttermilk for tang.  Mix everything well, pour over slaw ingredients and toss to coat evenly.  If you like, give it a sprinkling of celery seed for good measure.  Then, I let it sit in the fridge about 30 minutes for the flavors to develop.

 For the cocktail sauce, again, I don't measure.  I taste.
Pour some ketchup (1/2 cup?) into a small bowl and add a plop of horseradish (1 TB or more).  Pour in a little Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce (about 2 tsp) and squirt in some lemon juice (about 2 tsps).  Swirl it together but don't combine it totally.  I like "pockets of flavor."  Taste test!

 For the remoulade sauce, start with about 1/2 cup of mayonnaise.  Add in about a tablespoon of coarse grained mustard (Inglehoffer stone ground is my current favorite.) and about a tablespoon of sweet relish. Taste test!
 If you want some minced garlic, some sliced scallions, some chopped capers, a squirt of lemon juice, a few drops of Lea & Perrins, a sprinkling of cayenne, or a splash of hot sauce, I certainly wouldn't stop you.

Beautiful meat!

Lemon juice is a must for me.

Perfectly crisp batter.

Enjoy!

Friday Night Dinner. Mr. Hawthorne Cooks.

Mr. Hawthorne stopped at Billy's Seafood on the way home from work Friday night and picked up a couple of mahi mahi fillets, aka dolphin fish.

Mr. Hawthorne first trimmed the strong flavored blood lines off the fillets.

He lightly seasoned them with freshly ground salt and pepper and Old Bay Seasoning, then pan seared them in extra light olive oil and butter.

Maybe 3-4 minutes each side.

We had a few leftover scallops and crabmeat from the night before, so I topped the mahi mahi with that.

A bit of freshly ground pepper and some slices of heirloom tomato.

Then some sauteed asparagus. Mahi mahi is a delicately flavored fish with firm, white meat. The addition of the crabmeat and scallops was quite a nice accoutrement. And the red and green of the tomatoes and asparagus added colorful accents, both visually and flavor-wise to the white fish. (Why, yes. I could actually see the green and red flavors.) An excellent meal. Thank you, Mr. Hawthorne. OK folks. I've finally used up all the crabmeat and scallops so you now have a rest from that, since some of you have complained about it. And to that, I say, "Tough noogies."