Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Don't underestimate BreadBox!

At the last minute, LOML informed me that we were having friends over for dinner tonight --- "how do you feel about making fish and chips, dear?" Her thought was just to buy fish sticks and throw them and some frozen french fries in the oven. Hah! That'll teach LOML to underestimate BreadBox! So instead I ran to the store, bought some tilapia (the closest to a suitable fish that the store had today), peas, corn and frozen french fries, and ran home to get ready.
Okay, I get it. You noticed that I said frozen french fries (pronounced "chips"). I admit it, I did. I've not had huge success cooking french fries from scratch (or potatoes, for that matter!) and so I buy frozen and fry them in peanut oil. They taste much better than when cooked in the oven, and we only cook them occasionally, so we are not too fascistic about the health issues.
The batter --- a basic beer batter (based on Alton Brown's version, but modified to get the texture right for me): 2 cups of flour, about 20 ounces of dark-ish beer, tablespoon of baking powder, a little salt. Coat the fillets with a dusting of cornstarch, then dip in the batter, fry in medium hot oil (350 or so) until golden.

Oh, and the peas? Baby sweet peas (birdseye or green giant both make good versions) cooked re directions, then tossed with a little butter, touch of sugar and some chopped mint. The mint makes all the difference!

Yours, at the last minute, still cooking!
N.

No comments: