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I'm a huge fan of 'Fish and Chips'.  As I've said in previous posts, Friday was our fish day when I was growing up.  The only fish my mother ever ate was either fish sticks or the McDonald's fish filet sandwich.  Even to this day, my mother doesn't really eat fish.  Once I enrolled in Culinary school though I knew I would have to expand my horizons.  To make a long story short, I've since tried a ton of fish and found that I pretty much like them all.

The first time I had fish and chips was at an Irish Pub close to where I was living at the time.  I had no idea what to expect, but The Baker wanted to go so we went.  To this day, that was some of the best fish and chips I've ever had.  Practically every table in there was eating the Friday night fish fry.  I was totally excited and nervous with anticipation all at the same time.

The waitress finally brought it out.  It was beer battered Cod with waffle cut fries, homemade coleslaw and tartar sauce.  I ordered my first Black and Tan, and also had my first experience with Malt vinegar.  Let me tell you, it goes great with fried fish!  The waitress comes by after a little while and asks how we are doing.  "Fine," I think I said.  She replied, "can I bring you some more?"  I just looked at her......."huh?"  "It's all you can eat," she said.  Well, in that case... I ordered two more pieces of fish and decided not to get any more fries.  It was a great meal!  The fish was fresh.  The batter was light and flaky, but you could totally taste the beer. I left there stuffed, and with a huge smile on my face.  I fell in love with fish and chips!

-The Chef

BEER BATTER FOR FISH FRY:

  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 oz beer (your choice, but I used Budweiser American Ale this time)
  1. Combine dry ingredients in bowl and mix well
  2. Add beer and mix with a wire whisk until there are no lumps
  3. Refrigerate 30 minutes

Battering fish:
  1. cut fish into equal sized pieces; season with Cajun seasoning on both sides; (salt and pepper are fine as a substitute)
  2. dip fish into batter, and shake off excess; gently drop into preheated pot of oil set at 360 degrees
  3. cook until light golden brown on both sides; remove with a slotted spoon or a spider onto paper towels and immediately season with salt and pepper
  4. serve immediately or the crust will start to loose it crispness
  5. serve with coleslaw, lemon wedges, fries or chips, tartar sauce and malt vinegar
  6. oh, and a nice cold beer!