Pistachio Crusted Mahi-Mahi

with a Tart Cherry Reduction

By George Gyftakis

INGREDIENTS

2  8- to 10-ounce Mahi-mahi fillets

2 tablespoons honey mustard dressing

3 tablespoons chopped pistachios

1 tablespoon panko Japanese-style breadcrumbs

For Tart Cherry Reduction

1/2 cup tart cherry juice (organic is preferred)

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons wine vinegar

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon corn starch

Combine 1/2 cup tart cherry juice, sugar, wine vinegar, and lime juice in a saute pan. Bring all ingredients to a simmer and thicken with corn starch slurry (1 part corn starch to 2 parts water). Simmer and reduce liquid to desired consistency. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Coat each mahi fillet with honey mustard dressing. Combine chopped pistachios and Panko breadcrumbs in a bowl and press nut mix into fish to cover. Bake mahi in preheated 350-degree oven until it just begins to flake (about 12-15 minutes depending on the thickness of fish). Put 1 tablespoon of  reduction on the plate, place fillet on the reduction, and garnish with reduction drizzled on top of the fillet, and with chopped parsley.

The Shrimp Box & Outside The Box Patio Bar opened in 1940 as a commercial fishing dock that supported the adjoining retail fish market in selling and transporting fish along the Atlantic Coast. A small take-out seafood stand was added to serve captains and their crews. Its success led to moving the stand into the adjoining retail fish store, which today serves as the lobby and part of the kitchen of The Shrimp Box, and expanded its seating to 36 from the four original counter stools. The dockside patio was added later as it continued to develop a menu true to its genesis, focused on simple, fresh, locally sourced seafood dishes. With more than 300 feet of dock space available for dock & dine customers and a total remodel following Hurricane Sandy, this family-owned Jersey Shore seafood institution endures.