Tuesday, January 31, 2012

fish sticks and (awesome) potatoes

I want to apologize for not having a lot of recipe posts lately.  I think that that may be the general trend over the next few months as I continue with interviews and write and defend my thesis.  I am gong to attempt to do a food post now and then and I am definitely going to try and keep up fresh fridays.  

This recipe is for fish sticks (not all that exciting) and oven potatoes (which I make regularly - and are awesome).

Devin will absolutely only eat fried fish.  And usually on a sandwich with tartar sauce, ketchup and lemon.  I used to try and be fancy and make fried fish tacos.  Then we would each eat one taco, Devin would whip up some tartar sauce and we would eat the remaining fish without the taco.  I gave up. Quickly.  Now we just have fish sticks.

I like to use mahi-mahi, but they did not have it at Whole Foods, so I think I just used cod.  Any white fish will do just fine.  I cut it into strips and pat it dry with paper towels.  Next you need your breading station.  A little flour, some egg (with s&p) and panko bread crumbs.  Bread the fish in that order.  Next heat up some (vegetable) oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Fry the fish a few pieces at a time.  You do not want to crowd the pan because then it will end up steaming the fish versus frying it.  I put the pieces on a rack as they come out to drain off some excess oil and keep them crunchy.


Of course we need tartar sauce with the fish sticks.  I combine mayonnaise, sweet relish, lemon and s&p until it tastes right.  As you know, I am a big fan of pickles, so I probably use some extra relish.


Now onto the potatoes.  We have these at least once a week and I vary the shape and seasonings depending on how the mood strikes me.  Here is the general idea.

I always use red potatoes.  I am not sure why, but in my head, I feel like they are better for you than non-red potatoes (but of course not as good for you as sweet potatoes).

I slice the potatoes different every time.  Here I did long strips.  Usually I do chunks.  I cheat a little (a lot) and start the potatoes in the microwave.  This is basically why I have a microwave; to pre-cook potatoes and thaw bread from the freezer.  I put the potatoes in a microwave safe bowl with nothing on them and put them in the microwave for 10 minutes (stirring half way through).  After the ten minutes I check them with a fork to make sure they are cooked through.  If not, I put them in for a few more minutes.  Don't worry if they seem dried out.  This is actually good because it aids in getting them crispy later.

Then I always coat the potatoes in evoo and s&p.  It is the additional seasoning that I switch up.  Lately I have been doing a lot of garlic powder and dill.  That is what you see here.  Sometimes I go with italian seasonings, other times I make them spicy with chili and cayenne powders or maybe even a combination of all of them.  At this point I also sometimes add in some chopped onion.

Mix everything up and put it in a single layer on a large (preferably deep) baking sheet.  I put them in a hot oven (usually 450) for anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes.  It all depends on how fast they brown up.  That is the ticket though.  To get the outside of the potatoes brown and crispy (while the inside is nice and soft).  They are always delicious and pretty fool-proof!!  Just make sure you only put on enough evoo for a light coat.  If you put on too much it prevents the browning.


Here was our finished meal.  


So Long!

3 comments:

  1. Abby, I am stealing this meal for dinner.

    Just wanted you to know.

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    Replies
    1. Oooh, I can reply now!! That is great Jenny! I hope you like it!!

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    2. We did!! We make a lot of roasted potatoes but these were amazing. Thanks for the microwave tip!

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