Coconut & Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi

This morning was a beautiful nippy fall morning -- it was a chilly 51 degrees when I woke up.  Today we finished running our errands for the weekend and just loafed around a bit.  It was a quiet and uneventful day.  While shopping at Costco yesterday, I looked for the wild salmon that I had been buying there for a while and all they had this time was the farm raised version, so I decided to skip the salmon.  However, I was surprised by a couple of other wild caught fresh fish they had this weekend that I hadn't seen there before.  They had fresh wild caught Mahi Mahi and fresh wild caught Haddock.  I picked up some of both.  I haven't eaten Mahi Mahi since I was in Hawaii a very, very long time ago.

I decided to prepare a Hawaiian/tropical themed version of it.  I read through numerous recipes and many were very similar and involved grilling it.  I wanted to bake mine in the oven so I combined different ingredients to make a crusted version.  It's very similar to Alton Brown's recipe with some modifications.  I marinated the fish in coconut milk, fresh lime juice and spices and then topped it with a coconut and macadamia nut topping.  I guess you could say "she put the lime in the coconut..." (it's an old song).  It was delicious!  The fish turned out so tender, delicate and mild.  The topping was also mild and very "Hawaiian like" with the delicate flavors of both the unsweetened toasted coconut and macadamia nuts.  It tasted very "gourmet".   I served it with fresh steamed broccoli.  I also fixed coconut jasmine rice for hubby and youngest son who came for dinner tonight.  I snapped a few photos for you to see below as well as the recipe.  Enjoy!

Voila!

BOOM!

Coconut & Macadamia Crusted Mahi Mahi

INGREDIENTS:

3 to 4 Mahi Mahi filets, approximately 1-1/4 lbs (preferably wild caught)
Olive oil or coconut oil (to oil baking sheet with)

Marinade:
1 cup of canned coconut milk (reserve 3 tablespoons to baste fish with)
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon Tamari
Dash cayenne, optional

Topping:
1 cup roasted macadamia nuts, coarsely ground
1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 tablespoon coconut flour
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Dash of cayenne, optional
3 tablespoons butter, melted 

DIRECTIONS:

In a large Ziploc bag, combined all marinade ingredients; add mahi mahi filets and seal tight, removing as much air as possible; marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 4 hours. 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  In a medium bowl, combine all topping ingredients well until crumbly; set aside. Lightly brush a foil covered baking sheet with olive oil or coconut oil.  Place marinated fish filets on the baking sheet; sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.  Place in oven and bake at 425 degrees for 5 minutes.  Remove fish from oven and flip filets over.  Using the reserved 3 tablespoons of coconut milk, brush it on top of the filets.  Divide the topping evenly between the fish filets and lightly press the topping on top of the fish.  Return topped fish to the oven and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes (mine took about 7 minutes).  Remove fish from oven when topping is golden brown and fish is cooked (fish is cooked when it flakes easily); let sit for about 5 minutes to complete the cooking.  Serve immediately.