Maya's Coconut Tart

There's a great restaurant in St. Barth called Maya's that my family goes to every year. One of my favorite parts of a night at Maya's is finishing off with a slice of coconut tart. It's so delicious and crunchy and caramelized. We were having friends over for dinner last weekend and I was trying to think of something new to make for dessert. I googled around wondering if Maya's recipe had made it online, and it had! Jean-Georges published it for Food & Wine! (You can see it here.) It was so good and tasted just like how Maya makes it. Coconut fans will love it. Definitely get fresh coconut and shred it yourself - do not get the pre-shredded coconut. It will be too fine.

Mahi Mahi, grilled and ceviche, with christophine and zucchini

All the restaurants in St. Barts have some sort of mahi mahi on the list, but the prices are usually pretty high. I heard about the fish market in town and went in to get my own mahi mahi. (The fish market is right at the entrance to Gustavia and is open from 5am to noon.) The grocery stores on the island have great food and are very reasonably priced, and I love to cook, so dinners at home are just as fun, and tasty, as dinners out.

The piece of fish I got was enormous, so I decided to grill most of it but also make an appetizer of mahi mahi ceviche. I had a side of christophine (a local squash) and grilled zucchini. (All finished with some awesome coconut ice cream!) Recipes below!

Ceviche Recipe
Ingredients:
Mahi Mahi, cut into small, bite sized cubes
Juice of several limes
Cilantro, chopped up
Red onion, thinly sliced and a little chopped
1 serrano pepper

Directions:
Put the mahi mahi in a bowl and pour enough lime juice to just cover the fish. Salt lightly and refrigerate for 50 minutes.
Drain most of the lime juice and add the remaining ingredients. Salt to taste and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes and up to 2 hours. Serve plain or with thin toasts.

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa Recipe
Ingredients:
One filet of mahi mahi, lightly salted
half a mango, chopped into small cubes
half a red bell pepper, chopped into small cubes
1/4 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 serrano pepper (more or less to taste), chopped
1 lime
cilantro, chopped

Directions:
To make the salsa, mix the mango, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, serrano pepper, and cilantro. Add salt and lime to taste.
Heat a grill to high and grill fish on both sides until opaque. Cut into smaller filets and serve topped with mango salsa. (Also great to accompany with a little piment sauce.)

Christophine Recipe
Ingredients:
 3 Christophines, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup milk + water
butter

Directions:
Put the christophine in a pot and add milk. Add water until just covered and bring to a boil. Simmer until they are fork tender. Drain and return to pot. Mash with a potato masher and heat gently to evaporate some of the water. Add butter and salt to taste.

Grilled Zucchini Recipe
Ingredients:
4 zucchinis, cut in half lengthwise 
olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
salt

Directions:
Toss the zucchini with oil, salt, and garlic. Let sit at least half an hour. Grill until tender. 

St Barts Rum

Just got back from a wonderful and warm family vacation on St. Barts and am in withdrawal. Every time I'm there, I stop at Chez Ginette. It's definitely not a tourist trap, as many places on the island have become, and Ginette is always there surrounded by her dogs. She only speaks French, so come armed with your French/English dictionary or memorize, "Je voudrais quelque bouteilles de rum." She'll take you into a back room that's filled with shelves of home made rum punch. (Technically "punch" but with an alcohol content of 38% - very potent.) There is an overwhelming variety of flavors like hibiscus, myrtilles (wild blueberry), and ginger, but my favorite is the passion fruit. It has the tart and sweet flavor of passion fruit to mellow out the white rum a bit, and the seeds floating in it have a little crunch and a great flavor. The faint of heart might mix it with a little juice or soda, but if you want the real Antilles experience, just pour a little glass with a few ice cubes and crank up the heat.

Also, I think the warning sticker on the back is pretty funny.