Pan Fried Mahi-Mahi with Garlic, Onions & Tomatoes

Fresh Mahi- Mahi

The wonderful things about living in Florida is you can always go down to the docks and 90% of the time, you'll find fresh Mahi-Mahi for sale. But what do you do when you are land locked and there are no docks for 500 miles? why you buy it frozen..yes frozen, at the grocery store, no less!

I know as you are reading this you are probably thinking, it's time to unsubscribe from this silly cooking blog but before you do, read on for a bit. Awhile back, my daughter who has been raised on nothing but the freshest fish, called me one day from Atlanta and mentioned she had bought some frozen Mahi Mahi at the Kroger's in town and that it was pretty good. I really thought nothing of it until my mother showed up at the house one day with some frozen halibut, her favorite fish, frozen from the grocery store (Publix). We had it pan fried that night and you know what? it was pretty good. Granted, not the same as what you would get in San Francisco, but better than what you would get at the local fish store.

Tonight I had the frozen Mahi -Mahi and here's the trick. Take it out of the refrigerator and let it defrost slowly. Once it is defrosted, marinade it in some lemon juice, a tad of olive oil, mashed garlic and chopped onions for at least 2 hrs. Then proceed to cook as you would if it were fresh. You will be pleasantly surprised. Serve with yellow rice or boiled potatoes. Don't tell anybody where you bought it!

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 Mahi-Mahi fillets fresh or frozen

2 TB olive oil

1 TB butter

2 cloves of garlic mashed

1 medium onion, chopped

juice of 1/2 lemon

flour for dredging

dash of Old Bay or Fisherman's Seasoning

Grape tomatoes or regular tomatoes, chopped

Salt and pepper

Parsley (optional)

Instructions

Defrost and marinade per instructions above.

Add olive oil and butter to the pan, as well as the mashed and finely chopped garlic. Cook for a minute or two.

Just before frying, remove fish from marinade, pat dry and coat with the flour and seasonings. Add to the skillet and pan fry at medium high for about 3 minutes. It all depends on the thickness of the fillet. Flip over and add the drained chopped onions from the marinade and the chopped tomatoes. Reserve the lemon juice. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. Be careful with the onions, you might want to lower the heat a bit and you can always remove them if they start to burn. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove the fillet from pan and add the parsley and the lemon juice from the marinade plus extra if desired. Swirl around to deglaze the pan and pour over the fillets.

Cook's Note: The frozen fish packages are found near the meat counter. They are flash frozen inmediately after caught! I have tried the Bay Scallops, Mahi-Mahi and Halibut which are pretty good. Always cook with some kind of a sauce and defrost slowly.


New Photos by Lindaraxa taken 8/6/10 using fresh mahi mahi