English Style Fish and Chips

English style fish and chips are fun to make and eat!  This is a very  basic batter recipe, that will only take seconds to whip up!

Select your choice of fish to fry, I am using Ocean perch today! 

Make sure you dry your fillets well with some Kitchen Paper before you dip them in the batter.

This is a very simple batter recipe.  Two cups of all purpose flour, two teaspoons of baking powder, pinch of salt, and enough cold water to make the mix very loose.

Dip the fish in the batter, coat well and let the excess batter drip off for a few seconds!

Swish the batter coated fish in the hot oil for a few seconds until the batter in the oil starts to puff up, this will keep your fish from sinking straight to the bottom of the basket and sticking there. The cooked batter will keep it floating on top of the oil.  Then gently slide the fish into the hot oil. 

You can see how this fish is floating and not dropping to the bottom of the basket.

Repeat till the basket is full but not overcrowded.  You are going to cook off your fish in batches, so have the warming oven ready.  180F should do to hold your battered fish while you cook the rest off.

Turn your fish so all sides become golden.

Pull your fish out of the oil when the colour is perfect.

Dump them on your fries and put them back in the warming oven and carry on with the next batch.

When you have finished all your fillets you should have a nice golden pile of battered happiness to feed your peeps!

Plate and serve!

Pan fry a few fillets for the Paleo dieters!!!! 

You can always fry off a few sweet potatoe fries!  The oil is still hot!!!! 

Ingredients

Your choice of fish fillets

2 cups of All Purpose flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

pinch of salt

cold water 

Directions

Combine flour and baking powder and salt in a large prep bowl.  Using a batter whip stir in water till the mix is very loose.  The batter should be very runny.  

Dip fillets into batter and coat thoroughly, lift out of batter and let the excess batter run back into the bowl. 

Swish your coated fillet in the hot oil, letting the  batter puff up as you swish.  This will allow the fillet to float on the oil instead of sinking directly to the bottom of the basket and sticking.  

Once the batter has puffed gently slide the rest of the fillet into the hot oil.

Repeat with next fillet until the basket is full but not over crowded.

Cook the fish until batter turns golden brown turning the fish occasionally so all sides brown!

Pull your battered fish from the oil when you like the look of them!

Cook fish in batches, keep the cooked ones warm in the oven set to 180 F.  

Baked Calamari

Baked Calamari makes a nice change from the deep fried variety.  This dish is like ratatouille with some calamari thrown in for good measure.  Served with rice or pasta it makes a hearty meal. For a lighter fare you can have it with some chunky bread in a bowl.

Ingredients

1 pound of calamari hoods cleaned and skinned

1 eggplant

1 zucchini

1 bell pepper

1 onion

1 tin of whole tomatos

garlic, thyme, oregano to taste

1 tsp of chili flakes

salt and pepper

olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F

Slice eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds and place into oiled roasting pan.  Slice zucchini into 1/2 inch rounds and place on the eggplant base.  Slice onions and peppers into chunks place on the the eggplant base.  Slice squid hoods into rounds, place ontop of vegetables. Sprinkle liberally with olive oil.  Pour can of whole tomatoes on top of everything.  Spread the seasonings over the whole roasting pan.

Cook for two hours until everything is very soft and the calamari is cooked through.

Serve

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Calamari Fritti

Ingredients

one pound of squid skinned and cleaned

equal amounts of flour and cornstarch 

salt

oil for frying

Directions

Slice hoods into rings or strips

Dredge in flour cornstarch mixture

Drop into oil for 1 to 2 minutes until golden colour develops

Remove from oil and drain

Serve

 Jalapeno Mayo makes a great dipping sauce! 

Fries go great with battered Calamari and the oil is already hot!!!! 

Click Here to see how to make the perfect French Fry!

Work in batches to so you don't cool the oil too much! You want the oil nice and hot to flash fry those tender rings!

You can throw the whole batch of cut squid into the dredging mix and pull as many out as you need for each batch!  Shake them off good so you don't get a lot of loose flour in your oil!

They will only take a minute or two, pull the rings out of the oil when they are a nice golden colour!

This is what your oil should do when you drop your batch in!  You need this oil hot!!!!

Keep your batches warm in a 180F oven while you work!

Get your dipping sauces ready!

Plate on your favourite seafood plates! 

Serve!

Mac and Cheese

This is no Mac and Cheese out of a box.  This recipe is very rich and creamy, dare I say it..... Gourmet Mac and Cheese.  The roux approach thickens the sauce with a velvety richness that you just can't get out of a box product.  The addition of Parmesan cheese adds an Umami taste to the flavour profile.  I like to use the smokey Paprika but use regular if that's what you like!  If it looks like you have way to much sauce for the amount of macaroni you are doing it right, use it all up when you pour it over the pasta.  The pasta is very thirsty and will take all the sauce you can give it.  Optionally, you can add a few chili flakes to heat up the dish a bit.

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 3 cups milk 1/4 cup butter

2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup bread crumbs 1 pinch paprika

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Cook macaroni according to the package directions. Drain.
2.	In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to make a roux. Add milk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses, and cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is a little thick. Put macaroni in large casserole dish, and pour sauce over macaroni. Stir well.
3.	Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and brown. Spread over the macaroni and cheese to cover. Sprinkle with a little paprika.
4.	Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Serve.

Perfect French Fries

The perfect French Fry is a hand cut Russet soaked and dried and double fried!  I am talking perfection here!! Golden brown, crisp outer skin, soft warm insides!!!  If you take the extra time and follow these steps your fries will improve immensely!

Ingredients

5 Russet Potatoes
One per person should do it!
Oil for deep frying
salt

Directions
Scrub the potatoes to remove the soil.
Hand cut the spuds to desired size.
You can cut wedges if you want steak fries. I also have a push through cutter to make regular fries.
Leave the skins on for a nice rustic look or peel them if you want naked ones!

Now soak your cut potatoe in cold water for at least an hour, longer if you can in the fridge to get the starch out.

Dry your fries really well with some kitchen paper and let them stand on a wire rack.  The drier the better before you drop them into your oil.

Set deep fryer to 140 C or heat your oil to medium high in a pan.  The idea here is to blanch the fries not crisp them.  You know you have done it right if the potatoe is cooked through but not crispy.  They will take about 6 minutes or so.

Now pull your fries form the oil and let them drain, you can leave these fries sitting for a couple of hours until you are ready to serve dinner.  They should be the last thing you cook off before you plate.

When you are ready to plate dinner, drop the fries into the oil again.  This time the oil needs to be hot,190C. They will only take a minute or two to crisp up, you will have to keep an eye on them to ensure you get the amount of browning you like.

When they look good for you, pull them from the oil and drain and season.

Plate

These steak fries go great with Steak Frites !

 The deep fryer!

Push cutter for the fries.

                                      

Nicely cut 1/4  inch fries the easy way!

Rinse in cold water.

Let soak for an hour or more to get the starch out!

Hand cut steak fries post soak dryout period! 

Soaked dried and double fried, these steak fries are perfection! 

This is a batch of white potatoes I pushed through the chip cutter! 

Mr Chippy it's called! 

These fries are perfection too! 

You can use any potatoe to make your fries whites, yellows, reds, but I have to admit the Russet makes a very good french fry indeed! 

Yukon Golds work well too! 

Yorkies

Mini Yorkshire Puddings for Roast Beef and Horseradish appetizers!  You make them just like the normal ones except you dig out the mini muffin tins!  Let's face it, in this format you are going to eat a whole lot more  Yorkshire pudding than you would with just a single serving size on a dinner plate!  You cannot just eat one!!!

Use the basic recipe from My basic Yorkshire Pudding recipe! But cook them off in mini muffin pans!

Results below!

You know you want one!