Macnut Crusted Mahi Mahi w/ Spicy Mango Sauce

Dan got some big Mahi Mahi fillets from AmazonFresh this week, along with some mangos, and asked me to incorporate some macadamia nuts we had in the pantry.

I put some jasmine rice on to cook, then got to work on the sauce. The mangos were a little under-ripe, so I chopped just one of them and put the pieces in a blender with just enough pineapple juice to get them to blend well (maybe about a 1/4 cup?). In a saucepan, I melted one tablespoon of butter then strained the mango puree into it, bringing it to a boil while whisking periodically, then turning down the heat and letting it cook down (again whisking periodically). I tossed in a little salt and black pepper to taste, as well as a 1/2 teaspoon or so of crushed red pepper flakes, for some heat, and 1/4 tspn of ginger powder.

Next, I skinned the fish and divided it into 4 pieces, then dried them thoroughly. I whisked one whole egg in a bowl, and set that next to the stove. I put about 1/4 cup of macadamia nuts in a bag and smashed them with my meat pounder, then poured those in a pan and set next to the egg mixture. I put my large saute pan over medium heat with a tablespoon of macadamia nut oil in it. Once the oil was heated, I powdered each of the fish pieces in a little all purpose flour, dipped each in the egg mixture on both sides, then pressed one side into the mac nuts. Then each one went nut side down into the pan and I let them cook, covered, for about 3-5 minutes, until the nuts were browned, but not burnt. Mac nuts are a fatty nut, so they tend to burn easily at higher temperatures or if left too long. Once the nuts were browned, I flipped the fish and recovered, cooking until the flesh was opaque throughout - then served with the rice and sauce.

Chicken Quesadillas

Tonight we're heading downtown to see Heath and Spencer (who's in town from Walla Walla), and to see the closing night of The Legend of Billie Jean at Open Circle Theater - a play featuring a number of our friends, based on an obscure 80's movie Dan & I have never seen.

For a quick dinner beforehand, I made up some chicken quesadillas with peppers and onion, chipotle cheddar cheese, and topped with avocado and a homemade cheese sauce with Sriracha.

Chicken Piccata

I got a night off tonight, as Dan took to the stove and made up one of his specialties: Chicken Piccata.

I did some souz chefing for him, but otherwise it was all him. The sauce turned out delicious, and the chicken was perfect, all served over a bed of whole wheat angelhair pasta.

BBQ Chicken

After a walk around Seward Park (who knew it was so big and amazing?!) we grilled some chicken breasts on our indoor grill, coating them with yummy BBQ sauce given to us by Gerald & Jacqui. My barbecue skills are very minimal, so I can't say I did the sauce the justice it deserved, but it certainly elevated the chicken.

I forgot to photograph our actual dinner, but snapped these shots of our leftovers prepped for lunch tomorrow.

Chicken in Lemon-Caper Cream Sauce

Tonight's dinner was one of Dan's ideas that began as two simple words: lemon chicken. He suggested it for our meal plan this week, but with no specific recipe in mind. He threw out the idea of using capers, so we stocked up on those, in preparation.

When it came to making dinner, I did what I do: interpreted his idea into a reality. I love the structure and security of cooking from recipes (it's why I love baking so much), but every so often it's great to take a vacation from that and just make things up as I go. Dan does a lot of the idea generation for our meal plans (most of it, actually) - whereas (despite a bookshelf full of cookbooks) I freeze up when confronted with meal planning. I'm so grateful he's gifted at picking recipes and imagining possible dishes, like this one.

I started with a couple chicken breasts which came (from Amazon Fresh) in a vacuum sealed pouch. I sliced open one end of the pouch, placed it in a pint glass, and poured fresh squeezed lemon juice into the pouch - before putting it back in the fridge to marinate.

About an hour later, I pulled out the chicken. After getting some whole wheat cous cous on to cook, I pounded out the chicken until it was evenly thin (called a paillard). I then seasoned the chicken with some salt & pepper.

In a pan over medium-high heat, I got some butter and olive oil melted and hot, and then placed the paillards of chicken in the pan to cook. After a few minutes, I flipped them to the other side and put on the lid to help them cook through. Once they were just about done, I pulled them out, put them on a plate, and popped them in a 170 degree oven to rest and finish cooking (from residual heat, mainly) while I made the sauce.

I tossed some more butter in the pan (about a Tbspn) and then added the marinade. Some might shudder at the idea of reusing a marinade for a sauce (in fact a recent episode of 'The Next Food Network Star' featured Tyler Florence chastising a contestant for even suggesting it), but I think if you cook the marinade at a high temperature, you're going to kill any wee beasties that might cause trouble - just as you did when you cooked the meat itself. People are way too paranoid about bacteria and need to just use common sense, methinks.

Anyway - the marinade deglazed the pan, picking up the brown bits (aka fond). I added some capers and black pepper, and brought it to a full boil. Then I added a little cream, cooked it down, added a little more, cooked it down - creating a salty, creamy, lemony sauce. I served it all with the cous cous under the chicken breast, and topped with sauce.

Fish & Chips / Strawberries & Cream

Dan's folks and sister Lisa came over this afternoon for an early dinner. We lucked out and the sun broke through the clouds finally, just before they arrived, so we got to enjoy some chips and beers out on the back patio. Dan selected the menu for dinner, and largely coordinated everything. He did a great job of reading through recipes and determining what we could get done early - which was almost everything. We made some tartar sauce that included pickles we made using cucumbers from our garden last year, and some parsley from our current garden, and let that sit in the fridge all day so the flavors would meld together. Dan made up a Pineapple Almond coleslaw, and we let that mature in the fridge, too. I prepped and sliced strawberries we bought from Alm Hill Gardens (plus one from our garden), then tossed them in a little lemon juice and sugar, and they joined the other things in the fridge to macerate all day. I cut up some Yukon Gold potatoes from Olsen Farms, and let them soak in water all day, and about an hour before they arrived I made up the beer batter for the fish, and I cut up the fish.





Then, when dinner came around, all I had to do was fry up the potatoes for fries, and dip and fry the fish. It all came together fairly quickly, using some simple guidance from Martha Stewart's Cooking School.



We served the fish & chips in some plastic baskets we had from a show we did a couple years ago, and the slaw along side them in a metal ramekin.



After dinner, we had another Dan dessert creation: vanilla ice cream, topped with the macerated strawberries and some fresh whipped cream flavored with a little brown sugar, orgeat, and Frangelico.