A few weeks ago, the guys over at The Bitten Word proposed a challenge: They requested volunteers from their readers to try to cook every recipe in six different food magazines, to be pulled together and featured on their blog mid-October. I always mean to cook recipes from my food magazines, and rarely actually do, so I decided to sign up for the challenge. They put me on Team Food Network, one of the few food magazines I don’t actually subscribe to or read. Thankfully, the recipe is online. I was assigned to make Banana Leaf Mahi Mahi with Citrus and Chiles.
This is the reason I love signing up for challenges: I never would have chosen to make this recipe on my own, but I was very pleased with the results, and with the ease of preparation. Making this was like a little adventure, and it broadened my horizons, and made me more willing to try things that don’t fit into my immediate comfort zone.
I did have to make a few adjustments: Our local market didn’t have banana leaves (come on, Whole Foods!) and while I knew I could find them at Berkeley Bowl, I didn’t have it in me to drive over there and battle the crowds on Monday night. I thought corn husks would make a decent substitute, since they would fulfill the same purpose: wrapping the fish and keeping it moist in the oven. I also couldn’t find Mahi Mahi. Whole Foods apparently doesn’t carry it, even though the Monterey Aquarium says some types of Mahi Mahi are a “best choice” seafood. Whatever the reason, I decided to buy some beautiful albacore tuna instead.
I thought this was going to be a labor-intensive dinner to cook, but in the end, it wasn’t that bad. There are a number of steps, but none of them were difficult, and most of the time the recipe requires doesn’t involve active work. I like it when dinner can prepare itself while I do something elsewhere. The most involved part of the process was making the chili paste and wrapping the fish, and it probably took about 30 minutes. Then everything went in the oven, and 30 minutes later, dinner was served. This recipe does involve some marinating time, so you have to plan head and prepare the fish at least an hour before you start cooking it.
I decided to serve the fish with some lime and coriander rice, and chili roasted sweet potatoes. This trio worked really well together, and made for a very well-rounded meal. I’m only starting to branch out into cooking things that aren’t all prepared in the same pot, and sometimes I think cooking multiple components of a meal can be challenging. So I want to break down the whole process I went through, so you can see how I think about timing and planning when making a dinner like this.
| Albacore Tuna with Citrus and Chiles, Lime Coriander Rice, and Chili Roasted Sweet Potatoes |
- 8-10 dried corn husks
- 3 large dried guajillo chiles
- olive oil
- 1/2 small red onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- salt
- 1 orange
- 2 limes
- 4 6-ounce albacore tuna steaks
- 1 cup long-grain white rice
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1 teaspoon chile powder
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Put the dried chiles in a small bowl. Trim the end of the corn husks, and rinse them off. Once the water is boiling, pour a little of it over your dried chiles, then remove the pot fromt the heat, and put the corn husks in the hot water to soak.
- Let the chiles soak for about 15 minutes, or until they are pliable. Remove them from the water, remove the stems and as many seeds as you can, and coarsely chop them.
- While the chiles and corn husks are soaking, heat a good drizzle of olive oil in a medium skillet. When it’s hot, add the minced onion and saute for a few minutes, until they are beginning to soften. Then add the garlic, the oregano, the cumin, and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, everything is soft and golden. Remove from the heat, and transfer to a small food processor or blender.
- Slice the orange and one of the limes in half. Juice half of the orange and half of the citrus into the food processor with the onion mixture. Add a few tablespoons of the chile soaking liquid, and the chopped chiles. Add another pinch of salt, and blend the mixture until it’s a fine puree.
- Slice the remaining half orange and half lime into thin rounds.
- Once the corn husks are soft and pliable, remove them from the hot water and dry them gently. Spread out two husks, overlapping a bit, and lay one slice of orange and one slice of lime onto the middle of the husks. Take a piece of fish, and spread about a tablespoon of the chile paste onto it with a spoon. Please the fish, chile side down, on top of the citrus slices. Wrap the corn husks around the fish, and place them, citrus side up, on a baking sheet, so that the husks stay closed. Once all of the fish pieces are wrapped, put them in the refrigerator for between 1 and 3 hours to marinate.
- When you’re ready to cook dinner, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the sweet potato into one-inch pieces. Toss the sweet potato with the chile powder, a good glug of olive oil, and a pinch of salt, and spread them out in a single layer in a baking dish. Set aside.
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, and add the rice, a pinch of salt, and the coriander. Lower the heat to simmer, cover the rice, and let it cook for about 30 minutes.
- When the oven comes to temperature, put the sweet potatoes into the oven. The recipe from Food Network says to cook the fish for 35 minutes. That was a perfect amount of time for the sweet potatoes, but a little too long for the fish. So I recommend putting the fish in the oven about 10 minutes into the cooking time, and cooking the fish for only 25 minutes.
- When the rice is done, squeeze the juice from the remaining lime into it and fluff it with a fork. Season to taste. Now the potatoes and fish should be done, and ready to serve. Serve up the fish still wrapped in the husks, and let everyone unwrap them at the table. It’s like a little fishy present!