August 16 - Fish And Chips for Daniel

It is Sunday afternoon and I got an email from my friend Catherine. Her son Jacob is Daniel's best friend and they had moved to Arizona, a year ago.


Jacob must have seen the pictures of the recent meals that I have been serving to my kids and challenged his Mom to try out the recipes. He must be thinking that if Daniel can dare eat those meals, most likely, he can do it too. So Catherine asked me what my next dish will be.

It is a lazy Sunday afternoon...I thought I could get by with leftovers. But since my friend is curious what I will cook next (after all, I did a little bit of grocery shopping in Garden of Eden today), I decided to try Fish and Chips.

Daniel is not a seafood eater. Unlike his sister Cathelyn, who could pretty much try anything, Daniel has decided that he will not be a seafood eater.

One time, I even challenged him that for a seafood dish that he will try, he will receive $20. We went to our favorite Japanese Restaurant, Robonggi. Daniel got the $20 but only ate 2 pieces of shrimp sushi for 1 hour. Money is not even a good motivator.

So today, kids were hungry. They wanted their dinner. Fish and Chips. I did not see the normal long face that he puts on when he does not like the food I am serving him. Surprisingly, and of course, to my delight, he was the first one to clean up his plate.

I would say this version of Fish and Chips is safe for non-seafood eater kids like my son, Daniel.


Ingredients:

6 medium size Yukon potatoes (cut each spud into 8 big slabs like home fries)
1.5 lbs fillet of Wild Alaskan Cod, cut into 7 pieces
2 cups stone ground whole wheat flour, add 1 tbsp of baking powder (normally you use a self-rising flour)
some flour for dusting
1 can of beer
coarse sea salt
vegetable oil for deep frying












Preparation Time: (about 30 minutes)

1. Put the 2 cups of flour in a large shallow pan, together with a can of beer.
2. Put some flour for dusting in another shallow pan.
3. Place the cut potatoes in a bowl of cold water with 1 tbsp of salt. Leave it there for about 30 minutes. Pat them dry.





Cooking Time: (30 minutes)

1. Heat enough vegetable oil in a deep fryer.
2. Fry 2 batches of potatoes. Cook each batch for 10 minutes. Set aside on a shallow dish with a paper towel to take out excess oil.
3. For each fish fillet, dust it with flour then dredge on the beer batter. Fry each fillet for 2 minutes on each side.
4. Serve with Tartar sauce or malt vinegar.