POACHED MAHI MAHI

BY BILL ST. JOHN

Mahi-mahi — like swordfish, shark, and tuna — is actually a cow that swims. These fish are meat: chewy, textured, and amenable to various ways with cooking heat. My mother used to poach, at a super low simmer, large filets of salmon in what I considered to be an unholy amount of dry white wine. But no one ever has equaled how tender the result. It was like pudding with gills. With its sweet taste and firm flesh, mahi-mahi also lends itself well to poaching.

Poached Mahi-mahi
6 servings

Ingredients
6 5-ounce skinless mahi-mahi fillets (each about 1 and 1/2 inches thick)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups bottled clam juice
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/2 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
Fresh fennel fronds

Directions
Pat dry the mahi-mahi fillets; salt and pepper them. In large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, cook 3 filets only on one side only until brown; transfer to plate. Repeat with other 3 fillets.

Combine the clam juice and white wine with 4-5 lemon slices, the garlic cloves, and the red pepper flakes in heavy large skillet. Cover, simmer for 10 minutes. Add all the fish, browned side up, and any juices, and cover and simmer until fish is opaque in center (about 10 minutes).

Transfer fish with slotted spoon to platter. Add the shrimp to cooking liquid; simmer until shrimp are just cooked through. Transfer shrimp to fish platter; Keep warm with foil tent.

Remove garlic and lemon slices from cooking liquid; boil until liquid is reduced to 1 cup. Serve garnished with the fennel fronds and drizzled with the sauce.