Fried Fish

It's 10:30... Closing in on my bedtime but I had to document my first foray into the world of deep fry.

It all started with cod from Saturdays market. I had two perfect fillets left over after I made the soup a few days ago so I froze them. I'm not the best freezer. I feel like there must be some trick to it. Freezer burn is my arch enemy but I took my chance once again and carefully bagged those fillets in hopes they'd be there for me when I needed them.

This morning I pulled them out and miraculously they defrosted perfectly. I was off to a good start so I decided to try my luck at a technique that has always intimidated me. Deep frying.

There are a few reasons I was a bit put off by the fry. There is a lot of oil involved. It just seems so wasteful. Every recipe I have ever read calls for a thermometer. I don't have one. And, there is the batter aspect which I was pretty unsure about as well.

My thought was to put together an East coast meets West coast fried "fish 'n salad". I looked up a recipe for fish 'n chips online to get an idea of the process and proceeded cautiously. First I fried potato wedges. Fried fish needs chips. I fried twice and they came out perfectly golden and crispy. So far so good. Then I put together a really green salad of escarole hearts, parsley and mint with a creamy chive dressing and oven roasted tomatoes.

Last but not least, I dredged my seasoned fish in a bit of flour, then in beer batter and dropped them into the oil. I kept a close eye and adjusted the heat a bit when it appeared things were frying to quickly. Beyond that there's really not much to it. I'm not sure what I was so worried about. The fish turned out great! Super crispy on the outside and perfectly moist and flaky inside. I put those yummy little golden nuggets on top of the salad thrilled that I had conquered my fears.

I know it probably doesn't seem like much but a small success in the kitchen is always so encouraging. It really did make my day know that I learned something new and executed it correctly.