Fish 'n' Chips

Hello Denizens of Yummiesville,

I just watched that Jamie Oliver speech again (if you haven't yet - click on the link on the post below this one. It's worth the time) and I gotta say it's moving. Moving enough that I'm going to share with you a recipe that'll clog your arteries with deliciousness in 15 seconds flat.

I jest, but I seriously only prepare this meal once in a blue moon due to the fat content. My recipe, however, is healthier than what you'll find in a restaurant, and you can make it even healthier by just using less oil. I sort of have the advantage of having a ridiculous metabolism so I can eat this stuff more often than your average Joe, which isn't fair, but hey, I'm going to enjoy it before it slows down too much.


Fish 'n' Chips a la Iain

Ingredients:
1.5 lb of white fish of your choice (catfish, cod, etc.)
4-6 medium-large russet potatoes
3/4 cup dark beer
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 eggs
1 tbs butter
canola oil for frying
3 cloves garlic
paprika
salt
malt vinegar and/or lemon
hearty ale

Music Listened To:
I do believe I listened to "Dancing Feet" by the Tannahill Weavers: one of the most awesome albums ever.

Procedure:

1. Start with the batter. This is virtually the same as what you'll find in the Joy of Cooking, but I do it my own ritualized way. Open up the beer and measure out 3/4 of a cup. You don't want it fizzy, so stir it a bit and let it sit while you do the rest. Combine the flour, salt and pepper with a whisk. Then separate the eggs, saving the whites in a bowl (one of the things you can do to make it healthier) and whisk the yolks into the batter. Nuke the butter and whisk that in as well. Lastly, whisk in the beer. Set the batter aside for about an hour.

2. Time to turn your attention to the taters. Preheat the oven to 450. Scrub them and prepare a large mixing bowl about 1/3-1/2 full of cold water next to the cutting board. Slice them into thick strips (to make them more chip-like than fry-like. And no, I don't mean crisp-like, you yank!) Set them into the cold water as you finish cutting them. When you finish setting them in the bowl, turn them so that the one on the bottom come to the top and the top go to the bottom so they get their turn to soak. In the meantime, mince the garlic. Prepare a clean towel or some paper towels and begin drying off the chips as you take them out of the bowl and begin arranging them on a well-oiled baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and garlic and (if you like) a little more oil before popping them in the oven. Set your timer for 40 minutes.

3. Fish time. If the pieces are thicker than half an inch, split them with your knife. Pare them down further if they look uncomfortably big. I usually aim for about 3"x6" fillets. An alternative, if you're feeling thrifty, is buy the catfish nuggets, which are really just as good as the fillets, but they've been trimmed away and hence are cheap and prevent waste. Get your assembly line ready: batter, fish plate, skillet with about 1/4 inch oil, and then, to the side, a plate with a paper towel to receive the finished fish. Whisk the egg whites into the batter and heat the oil on high (about 8 out of 10) Okay. Ready?

4. Frying. Okay, you're going to have to touch raw fish (I know, gross. Get over it :-p). Dip the fish on both sides in the batter so that it coats both sides and CAREFULLY lay it down in the oil. Use tongs to patch in any gaps in the coverage with more batter. Let the fish sizzle four minutes on a side, turning them with tongs until golden brown. When both sides are done (8 minutes for both sides), remove from the oil and set on the plate. To preserve the warmth, you may want to cover the plate or set it in the microwave. Proceed to the next batch of fish.


5. While you're having fun frying the fish, keep an eye on the timer. Check on the chips about every 10 minutes. You'll want to take them out about 15-20 minutes in and turn them with a spatula. Keep on checking them - if you notice them looking done (crispy and golden brown) or if some of them are starting to look burned, take them out before the 40 minutes are up! Sprinkle with salt and paprika and set them on a serving plate or bowl, lined with a paper towel. Usually they'll end up being done about half-way through the third (usually last) batch of fish. These'll be way healthier and (in my opinion) a bit yummier than restaurant chips.


6. Serve! Give yourself and your guests one or two hearty fillets of fish and a heap of chips. Sprinkle both with malt vinegar (if you can find it - it's probably in the international section) and serve with a pint. Enjoy!

I hope this dinner finds your belly well. It is heavy, it is one of the most expensive meals I make, BUT, it is freaking delicious. Also, people who eat fish tend to be happier than people who don't! True fact! Happy Lent!

Chimichangas Chez Boz

Hello my fellow chefs! Tonight I will reveal to you one of my favorite recipes, one which is sure to delight you and those with whom you share your living space. I learned how to make chimichangas from Megan and Jill Carle's excellent book College Cooking. This recipe is based off of theirs. It is also vegetarian, but you can make it carnivorous if you want, just sub out the can of beans and some cheese for a pound of ground beef or turkey. This recipe makes 9 chimichangas - 10 if you don't eat as much of the filling as I did before frying them. They're great to freeze. When you're ready to defrost just pop it in the oven until it's nice and crispy.

Chimichangas

Ingredients

4 cloves garlic

1 onion

1 bell pepper

1 160z jar salsa

10" tortillas (probably ten)

1 can refried beans (or make your own!)

1 can red/black/pinto beans (leave this out if you're using beef)

4 scallions, green ends removed and reserved for broth

~2 cups cheese

1 thai pepper (SEEDED.)

white pepper

salt

dash cumin

olive oil (if veggie, put a decent amount in the wok, if meat, just a dash, 'cause the beef makes its own nice oil as it cooks)

a lot of canola oil

Materials

Wok or equivalent sized skillet

Skillet or frying pan with a goodly sized rim

Knife/cutting board

Wooden spoon

Pincers

Paper towels

Soundtrack

Views from a Train by Richard Wylie, and Richard Goode playing Beethoven's Piano Sonatas Opp. 109-111. If you haven't heard those late sonatas, grab a copy and go listen RIGHT NOW! I don't care if you don't like classical music! This stuff rocks out.

1. Preparation Cut up onion and bell pepper into 1/4-1/2" chunks, finely chop the garlic, dice the scallions, and seed the thai or other spicy pepper. If you use a different pepper you may need to use more, or less, depending on the kind. One thai pepper was enough to make 9 chimichangas pleasantly spicy for us three. And may I emphasize, do remove the seeds or you will find your dish inedible!!!

2. The filling Put some olive oil in a wok, heat it up to medium-high and saute the garlic and spicy pepper for just a moment to let the flavors come out, then add the onion, green pepper, and scallions, and saute this for a bit until the onions are starting to get translucent, just a few minutes. If you are a carnivore, add the beef with the onion and green pepper and cook until the beef is brown. If you are not, add the drained can of beans, some salt and a dash of cumin, and some white pepper. I didn't keep track of how much white pepper I used, but it was a goodly bit. Just keep adding it to the filling at your leisure, until it tastes good. Though don't add too much of the pepper until the very end of this step. What you want to do now is cook the veggie/bean mixture until the onions and green pepper are soft enough to be appetizing, but not soggy, because that's lame. So keep tasting them. It should be maybe 7 or 8 minutes, with you stirring constantly to keep stuff from sticking to the bottom. When the veggies are cooked (or the beef is no longer pink anywhere), throw in your jar of salsa and let that cook for about a minute, then turn off the heat and add the refried beans and your cheese, and stir that around for a while until it's all mixed together. At this point, taste it and it probably will need some more salt, so go ahead and add that and any more white pepper if it needs it. You could also add more cumin if you wanted a more robust flavor. I figured it was already so heavy with the beans and cheese it didn't need any more fortification.

3. The chimichanga Go get out your tortillas and put about 3 large wooden spoonfuls of filling into each of them, then fold them over like the pros do and set them into a nice chimichanga pyramid. Your next step will be to fill a skillet with canola oil - you want a lake about 1/4" deep to fry these babies in. Heat the oil to just under high heat - I used a setting of 8 on a 1-9 burner scale. You probably shouldn't test it with water to see if it's hot enough, unless you want blazing hot canola oil spattering everywhere. Just wait a bit and feel the heat above it with the back of your hand. Then place in the first chimichanga. It should start sizzling nicely. Let it cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until it's nicely golden but not so much that it starts blackening. Turn it over with the tongs and be super careful not to let it splash down and spray oil on you. I did this once and got a nasty blister living on my thumb for a while. When it's done, take it out of the frying pan - I actually put two chimichangas in at one time because of the pan's size - and let it dry on a paper towel to get some of that grease out. When it's done drying, set it aside on your cutting board and while it's drying stick in some more chimichangas. Keep doing this until they're all nice and crispy.

And you're done! This goes nice with a little caesar salad to balance the heavy fried goodness of the chimichanga. Mm, very filling, and so tasty. Couldn't hurt to have a nice brown ale with it, too. Me, I just had some ginger ale because I was feeling a bit under the weather. Sabor!