Last night I broke into some of our new wedding presents to make dinner for Luke and his brother Matt. It’s so nice to have shiny, new pots, pans and plates to play with!

The menu for last night was some wild sea bass coated with a macadamia nut crust, topped with a mango cream sauce. Luke and I had some amazing macadamia nuts in Maui, and I’ve been craving a dish with the same tropical flavors since we’ve been home.

I started out by making the macadamia nut crust in our food processor. It took about a half cup of copped nuts, a tablespoon of olive oil, some red pepper flakes and pepper.

Next I got the mango cream sauce ready. This sauce is very easy and really makes the entire meal. It’s sweet, rich and pairs perfectly with the macadamia nuts. Just chop half a ripe mango, combine it with 1/2 a cup heavy cream and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let it thicken until your fish is ready.

The last step to this easy recipe is to cook the fish. I started by seasoning it with salt and pepper and then searing it on medium-high heat in a skillet with some olive oil and crushed garlic. Once seared on each side, I transferred the fish to the oven, which was pre-heated to 350, to cook for another 8-10 minutes.

Once cooked through, I topped each filet with the macadamia nut topping and returned it to the oven until the crust was slightly brown.

I topped each finished fish with a good heaping of the mango cream sauce and added some of our fav veggies: green beans and swiss chard.

This fish was scrumdiddlyumptious! I would definitely recommend the crust and mango cream sauce, which can be paired with any type of fish from salmon to tilapia.

For dessert, I tested out my springform pan Luke’s sister gave me by making a chocolate-orange cheesecake. It turned out amazing, although it’s hard to go wrong with cheesecake. I got the recipe from the “I Love Cheesecake” cookbook that came along with the pan.

Enjoy!