Mahi Mahi, also known as the Dorado or Dolphin fish is a beautiful fish that is not only sustainable but very easy to cook.  It has a firm white flesh that is fairly mild in flavour.  This makes it quite adaptable, hearty enough to grill and yet firm enough to sear, glaze, fry, etc.  making it very versatile. Don't confuse it with the common Dolphin.  This is not Flipper.  Don't worry. Far from being even closely related to its namesake Mahi Mahi is highly sustainable, responsibly fished and harvested due to strong regulations.  They spawn and grow rapidly, which helps to keep their population stable. 

 

The people at Seafresh recently sent me some to try. I was quite excited at the opportunity to try a new fish I had never tried before!  I decided to give it a somewhat simple treatment.  I created a sweet and savoury rub to coat it with and then simply pan seared it  until it was nicely blackened on the outside, but perfectly cooked on the inside.

 

I had to do some research on the fish first so that I knew how to cook it properly.  I learnt a lot about it and about what it might taste like. Having never tasted it before I was flying in the dark here! 

 

It is a carnivorous fish which gathers in schools which mostly eat forage fish.   The word Mahi (Hawaiian) means strong and these fish are strong and fast swimmers.  

They are brightly coloured and mostly found in Pacific waters, although they can also be found in the Atlantic.

 

They are considered to be highly nutritious and rich in Iron and low-fat protein. Low in sodium and rich in Omega-3, which not only are good for your heart but also help to combat cancer. 

 

It is also a great source of essential minerals and important B vitamins, so altogether it can be considered a fairly healthy fish to eat.  It is however high in cholesterol so if you are watching yours, you will still want to consume it in moderation.

 

I was told that it had a fairly mild flavour  . . .  not a "strong fishy" flavour.  I am not fond of overly fishy flavoured fish.  I can just about tolerate Salmon.  

So what did it taste like?  

It was definitely not benign in flavour like cod, it was probably more like Halibut, so not unpleasant at all.

  

I was quite surprised that the flesh turned out as white as it did when cooked.  It was quite darkish raw so I expected it to cook dark, but it was not dark in the least!

 

Other than that searing rub I put onto it  . . .  the interior flesh was cream-coloured when cooked . . .

 

It had a very firm texture, which I think would make it excellent for using in Fish Tacos, or for grilling on the BBQ.

 

I am thinking it would also be lovely stir fried . . .

 

I had made a lime and honey dressed coleslaw to go with it, almost like a pickle, except fresher . . .

  

It went very well.  I would highly recommend.  I can't wait to try it again one day! 

 

Here is the recipe for the sweet and tangy coleslaw which I made to serve with the fish.  It went down a real treat. Do beware however it is more like a pickle and will not keep well, so whilst you can prep the vegetables ahead of time, you shouldn't dress them until just prior to serving.

 

Here you can see how creamy white the flesh actually was when it was cooked, a complete contrast to what I had expected when I first saw this fish raw. Seafresh is an on line fish monger, which sells quality fish, seafood, poultry and meat.  If you can recall, I was very impressed with both their product and their delivery service!  There was absolutely nothing that I could fault with any of it. Feel free to read about my experience here. Many thanks to Seafresh for sending me this Mahi Mahi to try.  There doesn't appear to be any  Mahi Mahi available on their page at the moment,but keep checking back to their website to see when it becomes available again.

 

A few things about Seafresh:

 

When we lived down in the South East of the country we sometimes took ourselves over to France for a day out.  We were not all that far from the ferry back then, and it was an easy jaunt and a pleasant trip over on the Ferry. 

You could be sitting in Boulogne enjoying a hot drink and a plate of Frites in only a few hours, even faster if you took the car train through the tunnel.

 

I preferred the ferry over the train for several reasons.  For one, you could get out of your car and stretch your legs. 

 For two, you could spend the journey in their comfy lounge enjoying a drink and one of their fresh almond croissants. 

 

Oh boy  . . .  one of the things that the French do very well, aside from their beautiful breads and macrons  . . .  is croissants and my favourite of all are the almond ones.  

They are quite, quite, QUITE delicious to say the least!

 

It has always been my dream to spend a week in Paris, in the Spring time when everything is bursting out in bloom, and it is neither too hot, nor too cold . . . 

not too wet, and when I can sit at a sidewalk cafe within the sight of the Eiffel Tower, enjoying a hot drink and a freshly baked almond croissant  . . . 

 

Oh yes dreams do come true.  I am a great believer in the truth of our dreams, but in the meantime, I make these. . . . 

which are not quite as fabulous as the fresh ones you can get in France, but let me tell you, they make a pretty darned tasty substitution!!

 

I have adapted the recipe from one I found online here.  

She adapted it from a recipe that she found here.  AND she adapted the recipe from one she found here by Clothilde Dusoulier on Chocolate & Zucchini.

 

Aren't we just so very, very blessed to have the wide variety of sources to draw from these days online?  I think so at any rate.  

So much inspiration . . .  so little time.  There are just not enough hours in the day to do all the things I would love to do.  Not enough . . .

 

I hope you will forgive me for not having the potato recipe which was planned for today.  

I ended up having to work on a new recipe for the site I write for and so I didn't have enough time to do the Pillsburg Potatoes, but never fear.  It is still in the queue for a later date. 

 

In the meantime I give you tasty, flaky delicious croissants . . .  brushed with an almond flavoured liqueur syrup  . . . 

it soaks into those flaky layers and adds much additional almond flavour and a hint of sweet  . . .

 

Filled with a rich and lush almond filling  . . .  oh boy, but I could eat that with a spoon  . . . buttery and almondy and scrum, Scrum, SCRUMMY!

 

Brushed with yet more of that almond syrup and scattered with flaked almonds before baking  . . .

 

until the almond filling is all gooey and golden  . . .

  

And the outsides sweet and golden crisp . . . .

  

Ready to dust with some icing sugar and then sit down and enjoy with a nice hot cuppa.  All is right with the world . . .  all is right  . . .

 

It is also my dream one day to bake croissants from scratch  . . .  hopefully while I still have the energy to cope with laminating doughs and all of the rolling and buttering and faffing about.  In the meantime I still have Paris  . . .  and I still have these  . . . 

Up Tomorrow:  Pan Seared Mahi Mahi with a Honey & Lime Coleslaw 

 

 

One of my favourite magazines to buy (aside from Country Home)  when I was bringing up my children was Good Housekeeping. They always had great recipes in them, plus collectible recipes, which yes I always collected, and crafts, useful articles, etc.  

I used to clip out the recipes that I thought looked good and save the craft patterns and any articles I thought would be useful. Every Christmas they would have a Gingerbread House on the cover.  So lovely . . .  I always aspired to make one like theirs, but never quite managed it.

 

They have Good Housekeeping Magazine over here in the UK as well, although now my family is grown I never really buy it.  

I do find it difficult to resist their seasonal and Christmas special magazines however! 

 

This year I have collected their Spring collection and the Summer one and the other day I was in the grocery store and spied the Autumn one.  

You know Autumn is truly in the air when the magazines start presenting you with autumnal pleasures!  I could not resist this.  a quick glance through it and it was destined to land in my grocery cart!

 

And it has only taken me two days to bake up this lovely Blackberry Bakewell Pudding recipe that graced its pages.  

Our blackberry bushes are filled to overflowing with those lovely berries at the moment.  Every day my husband goes out into the yard he brings back another plastic tub full of them.

 

Having a tasty and novel way to use some of them up was exactly what I was looking for!   I do freeze a lot, but we like to enjoy some fresh as well.

 

One of my husband's favourite puddings (desserts) is the Bakewell Pudding, with its jam layer and rich almond frangipane cake topping.  

He even likes the Bakewell Tarts you can buy in the shops with that sweet almond icing on top and the glace cherry decoration.

 

I knew he would absolutely enjoy this Blackerry Bakewell Pudding recipe!

 

Fresh blackberries are combined with a quantity of blackberry jam and layered on the bottom of your baking dish.  

 I had just made Apple & Blackberry Jam the other day (tis the season) so this was the perfect excuse to use some of that as well.

 

Once you have them in the bottom of the dish you make a simple frangipane cake topping to pour over top. 

 

It is said that the name Frangipane comes from a 16th century Italian Marquis named Muzio Frangipani.  

I don't know if this is exactly true, but hey ho, it very well could be, especially if he held a certain fondness for the flavour of almonds in his cakes and bakes!

  

Frangipane is a mixture which is highly flavoured and composed of ground almonds . . .  in a cake, or a cookie, or a pudding.

 

In this instance ground almonds are combined with a small quantity of plain flour, some eggs, butter and sugar and spread over top of the fruit in the bottom of the dish.

 

This is also an ideal bake for a coeliac as you can easily substitute the small quantity of flour which is used for the equivalent in a gluten free flour and it won't make much of a difference, as the ground almonds (almond flour) make up the majority of this delicious cake-like topping!

 

I used my La Creuset heart shaped stoneware baking dish as I don't use it near often enough and I was making this for my sweetie-pie, so why not bake it in a heart shaped dish!

  

Once baked you top it with  a sweet lemon drizzle glaze.  You can serve it either warm or cold, with lashings of warm custard of cold pouring cream. I dare say vanilla ice cream would also go down a real treat!

 

I am sorry if I disappointed you by not baking the apple dessert for today, but I had the berries and I needed to use them now.  I will save the apple dessert for another time, so you still have that tastiness to look forward to.  Oh, and in the original recipe for this, they added the flaked almonds after baking.  I added them before, which I thought worked really well as they came out all toasty and nicely nutty!   

TASTES TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE WEEK AHEAD

(always subject to change as per our circumstances and life getting in the way) 

 

Monday: Country Style Casserole

Tuesday: Cheddar Chowder

Wednesday: BBQ Chicken with Honey Mustard Glaze

Thursday: Pillsburg Potatoes

Friday: Pan Seared Mahi Mahi with a Honey & Lime Coleslaw

Saturday: Irish Oatmeal Muffins

Sunday:  Dutch Gingerbread