Dinner Tonight

My husband bought me a deep fryer today! Yippee...another way to cook fish (which he loves). I decided to do a beer battered fish fry. Also with potatoes and onions. And for my vegetarian daughter, some steamed green beans.

First off, prep your fresh green beans. Cut off the ends and put them into your steamer. I can't begin to explain how helpful my Tupperware steamer has and always will be. It is a wonderful 3 piece kitchen tool that makes life in a full time mother's dinner time easy! Just prep the veggies, throw them in the perforated part, throw some water into the bottom container (which you can also put herbs, broth, zest, or anything that might steam in some extra flavor), put the lid on and into the microwave for about 5 minutes and you have perfectly steamed veggies!

Beer batter turned out wonderful. 1 3/4 cups of flour, 1/4 cup of cornmeal, 1-2 bottles of beer (have to look for the right consistency-it should look like a pancake batter). I added about 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoons of tabasco, 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt (I am watching my blood pressure) and 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper.

Get your oven preheated to just be able to warm your fried potatoes/onion rings and prep a cookie sheet with some paper towels for draining.

Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and then half moon shaped. In the deep fryer they go at 375 degrees. They took longer than the instructions for the deep fryer said (which was 7-10 minutes). I just cut them right before they were going to go into the oil and they took about 15 minutes. I suggest making sure that the oil (I used peanut oil) is completely up to temperature and wait until the potatoes are completely brown and starting to puff up a little. Take them out with a slotted spoon and onto the prepped cookie sheet. Immediately put your seasoning on. I chose some sea salt and ground pepper, however, garlic salt, lemon pepper, or just fresh parsley would work.

Once the potatoes were done, I had the onions (sweet Vidalia are the only way to go) cut. I used the beer batter to coat the onions and they took about 8 minutes per batch. The key is to make sure that when you put the onions into the oil, drop them in slowly, one at a time. Don't overcrowd the fryer. You can use a large pot with oil also, however, I would suggest if you do that, make sure that you have a thermometer so you can keep track of the temperature. Look for a nice golden brown color...not too brown, kind of like the color of caramel on an apple. When they are that color, take them out and just like the potatoes, give them some seasoning. And they should also go on the sheet pan to drain with the potatoes. Those continue going into the oven between batches to stay warm.

Now comes the garlic aioli. . 3 cloves of garlic (finely minced), the juice of 2 lemons, and olive oil are the main ingredients. I have the luxury of a food processor that has an emulsifying blade, however, you could just put the above ingredients in a bowl, along with whatever you might want for flavor (I used salt and pepper as well as a little Tabasco for zing) and then use a whisk and slowly stream in olive oil until it turns into a thick sauce (slightly less thick than mayonnaise). Place in the fridge to chill while you fry the fish.

I wanted to use Cod however it was not available so I used Halibut. When you go to the store, just get what you think you will use. Get a fish that is sturdy and meaty...not too thin. You should have your sides ready to go, so all you have to do is throw your fish into the batter and then slowly into the oil. Using the fryer for the first time, I learned that the fish (as well as potatoes and onions) need to go in one at a time, slowly, and stir it a bit...it will get stuck to the bottom of the strainer (if you are using a fryer) or pan. And now you just wait until you get that lovely caramel color again. Put it on a plate lined with paper towels so that the oil can drain off.

Now assemble a sandwich if you want or just eat the fish with a little lemon or malt vinegar. I used Ciabatta bread...slathered it with the garlic aioli, a layer of leaf lettuce, fried fish with a squirt of lemon juice and splash of malt vinegar, a few slices of tomato, and another layer of aioli on the top of the Ciabatta bread.

Turned out to be a learning experience with the fryer, and a wonderful cooking experience with my husband. Frying is not as hard as it may look and definitely not as scary as I thought it might be....just have to make sure to prep ahead and make sure to season as soon as your food comes out of the fryer (or pot)!

Hope that this dish turns out as fun of an adventure for you as it was for me!

First Post...

Just starting this...Had a wonderful dinner tonight and want to share my recipes with everyone. I look forward to posting things that full time workers and stay at home mothers can share with their families. Something easy, something simple, yet elegant and delightful.

I tried Talapia tonight.... I don't have a microplane(fine grater), so I did it myself...finely chopped the zest of 2 lemons and 2 oranges. I combined that zest with 2 teaspoons of finely minced garlic, 2 teaspoons of finely minced ginger, the juice of the 2 lemons and 2 oranges, as well as a quarter of a cup of fresh cilantro. You also need to add about 2 teaspoons of hot sauce (Tabasco is fine)... a 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, about a 1/4 of a teaspoon of sea salt and the same of fresh pepper. It sounds like a lot of work, but it will pay off in the end. At this point put your fish into the marinade (I used a full filet that was about 1 1/2 pounds). Let it set in the fridge for about 45 minutes.

While this was setting, I made a box of rice pilaf (yes, already prepared, I did however have a little fresh garlic, ginger and cilantro to combine the flavors). I also made fresh broccoli steamed in water with lemon zest (I use a Tupperware steamer...cut up the fresh broccoli...5 minutes with the zest in the steaming water and it is ready). And some wonderful garlic rubbed french bread (fresh bread from your local store... just cut off the end of a large garlic clove, rub it on the sliced bread, place it on a foil lined cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non stick spray, sprinkle with a little of sea salt and pepper).

I toasted the rice pilaf mix with the garlic and ginger. Added the water and seasoning packet (per the directions) and got the bread into the oven for toasting at @ 350 degrees. The cilantro will be added at the end.

I started a grill pan for the Talapia on the stove at medium heat. Make sure to spray the pan with non stick spray before you start the heat. As soon as it heats up, put on the Talapia. Wait until it releases from the pan on it's own...don't force it... then when it is ready, flip it.
When it releases again, get it off the heat. you don't want it to be overdone. At this time, your bread should be ready as well as all the other dishes.

I juiced another lemon and orange to have a little bit of dressing sauce for the fish, and it could be turned into a vinagrette for a salad (combined with a little garlic and olive oil). Alot of options...hope to hear some feedback!