Fish & Chips

After my sister's trip to Prince Edward Island, she had seafood on her mind. She also brought back potatoes from PEI, so she invited my mom, her husband H and I over for fish and chips. She searched the internet and decided to follow Tyler Florence's recipe for both. The recipe provided useful tips for frying.



FrenchFries
Adapted from Tyler Florence.
The trick for having crispy fries is to deep fry them twice. While Tyler Florence's recipe did specify the temperatures, my sister did not have a deep frying thermometer so she just tried to guess and played with the heat level. She did follow the time suggested for frying.

* salt, to taste
* red chili flakes, to taste
* oil
* potatoes, cut into wedges

Pre-mix salt and chili flakes.
Heat 3 inches of the oil to 325F (medium - medium high).
Add one batch of potatoes and fry for 2-3 min; they should not be crisp or fully cooked at this point.
Remove the chips to a paper towel-lined platter to drain.
Repeat with the rest of the potatoes.
Increase the heat to 375F (high heat).
Again, add a batch of potatoes into the oil and fry for 4-5 min, until crispy and brown.
Remove the chips to a paper towel-lined platter to drain.
Immediately season the chips with the salt mixture while they are still hot.
Repeat with the rest of the potatoes.
(You can place the fries in a preheated oven if you want to keep them warm while frying the fish.)


Freshly cut fries (unpeeled) and fried the first time.


Golden and well-seasoned.

Beer Battered Fish
Adapted from Tyler Florence.
My sister thought the use of rice flour very effective. She replaced the soda water with beer (Corona). The crust was beautifully fluffy and crisp.

* 2 cups rice flour
* 1 tbsp baking powder
* salt, to taste
* ground black pepper, to taste
* 12 oz beef - we used Corona
* 2 (8 oz) fish fillets, cut into large pieces (we used cod and basa)
* ½ cup rice flour for dredging
* 1 lemon, cut into wedges

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.
Pour the beer into the flour mixture and whisk to a smooth batter.
Spread the rice flour on a plate.
Dredge the fish pieces in the rice flour and then dip them into the batter, letting the excess drip off.
Add the pieces of fish into the oil (375F or high heat).
Fry the fish for 4-5 minutes until crispy and brown.
Serve with lemon wedges.
Tada!



The batter was bubbly from the beer and baking powder, resulting in a nice crust for the fish.


The fish was great with homemade tartar sauce.


The fish & chips were served with homemade coleslaw, tartar sauce and mayonnaise (for the chips).

Peach Crostata
My sister has made my friend The Gastronomer's peach crostata recipe a few times. She loves it because it's quick, easy and tasty. This time, her fiancé D made the dough with shortening instead of butter because my mom does not like butter (he also made extra for my blueberry pie - post to come next!). He had some difficulty with the dough and it kept breaking. The crostata still came out nicely. It's great with a side of ice cream!



Peach crostata with the addition of raspberries.