Me and the wifey spent the weekend at the beach and had some wonderful oysters at one of the local crabby shacks. They were delicious but made me desire more seafood, so the following evening I went on a mission to find a great piece of mahi. Fail. No mahi and ended up having a Cuban sandwich. The sandwich was great but not what I was looking for. Of course the first thing I did upon returning home was head to the seafood market. This basquaise recipe will work with almost any fish, chicken and is awesome in cheese omelets so consider doubling the topping recipe and keep the leftovers in the fridge.

INGREDIENTS:

For the topping

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 lb chorizo, removed from casing and crumbled
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced (I used poblano but the regular bells work well)
• 4 plum tomatoes, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• kosher salt
• fresh ground white pepper

For the fish and scallops

• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 mahi fillets
• flour for dredging
• 2 cups small bay or sea scallops
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• kosher salt
• fresh ground white pepper

PREPARATION:

1. We are going to start with the topping first. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook until browned. Transfer to a plate leaving the oil and fat in the pan. Next add the onion and peppers and sauté until translucent and soft, (about 10 minutes) being careful not to brown them. Return the chorizo to the pan and add the tomatoes, garlic and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper, cover and lower heat to a low simmer and allow to continue to cook while you prepare the fish and scallops.

2. Now for the seafood. In a separate large saucepan, heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat. Season both the mahi fillets and the flour dredge with the salt and pepper and dust the fish with the flour. Cook the fish for about 5 minutes in the oil and then flip. Pour the wine into the pan around the fish. Add the scallops, the thyme sprig and the garlic clove, arranging the fish. Cover the pan and lower the heat to medium and cook for another 5 minutes. You can flip or stir the scallops over with about 2 minutes left but it isn’t necessary. Discard thyme sprig and garlic clove. To plate, arrange equal portions of the scallops around the fillets and pour on any remaining liquid from the seafood pan. Next spoon the topping onto the seafood and garnish with lemon wedges.

Serves 4

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