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Fish and Chips |
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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i remember reading that bit somewhere. it seems to work well with other applications such as pie crusts, etc.
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kiwi
Chef's Apprentice Joined: 16 February 2010 Status: Offline Points: 402 |
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the other thing is to make sure the water, beer, milk, anything liquid going into the batter is COLD. not sure on the reasoning, but it sure works well.
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kai time!
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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kiwi - that sounds like a good tip ~ thanks!
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kiwi
Chef's Apprentice Joined: 16 February 2010 Status: Offline Points: 402 |
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tip - for a lighter, airy-er batter, replace half the beer with soda water
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kai time!
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Hey that looked like a fine meal you prepped there, Ron. Good lord that looks just about perfect! Real nice looking fish and chips. Got to have the beer for a true "proper" batter as I've been told and your recipes sounds delicious. Nothing better than fresh, hot, just-made fish and chips! Nice history you got there too, didn't know all that. Definitely adds to the enjoyment of the post! You didn't say at what heat you put the food in to keep warm- on something like this it has to be a HOT oven, and as you learned, you have to cook fast. Make batches for a couple, three then serve and keep going, but no worries, it looked fine and darn tasty~ Good to see you found some malt vinegar too.
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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this is, of course, quintessential street and pub dining throughout the united kingdom.
wiki had quite a bit to say about fish and chips, but i selected this passage as the most indicative of the origins and traditions behnd the meal:
here's a recipe and acouple ofphotos from time-life's: foods of the world - the cooking of the british isles, 1969:
instead of the fotw recipe, i decided to try this one from well-known english chef, jamie oliver:
we don't have any pickled eggs handy, but i did make an attempt at the wally's - here's how it went..... around 10 one morning, i began preparing this, thinking that it would make a great lunch. here's a shot of the goods and it is evident that there isn't too much needed: we got to thinking that local fresh-caught, freshwater fish such as perch, northern pike, crappie, smallmouth bass or walleye would be just as good, and catfish, if any were available, would be even better. all of these fish (with the exception of catfish) can be caught just a few short miles from home. for catfish, we've got to travel at least 40 miles or so.... we were doubling jamie oliver's recipe, so i put 2 cups of beer into 2 cups of flour, then mixed it well and let it sit in the fridge to stay cold while the flavours got to know one another: i was cooking this for six people, so we peeled and cut two potatoes per person into chips (otherwise known as french fries) about half an inch on a side. these were rinsed well in cold water and then soaked in another batch of cold water to work some of the starch out; then, prior to getting their bath in hot oil, a batch at a time was set to dry off a bit in a colander: for the wallys, i cut one pickle per person into four spears, after cutting the ends off (don't know why, but pickle ends bother the heck out of me): i fried the chips in canola oil in batches of a large handful at a time so as to keep the oil hot and cook them well. coming out of the fryer they were crisp outside and fluffy inside. the recipe above mentions a two-stage cooking process, but since i didn't have any oil-temperature measuring equipment handy today, i simply cooked them in one stage and they came out fine. as each batch of chips finished, i put them in a pan lined with paper towels to stay warm in an oven heated at about 170 degrees: once the chips were done, i folded the beaten/whipped/peaked egg whites into the beer batter, which was smelling very, very good: and then prepared to fry the cod fillets. previously, we had rinsed off the fillets in cold water and patted them dry between layers of paper towels: i cut the fillets in half, dipped them in the batter, and dropped them in the fryer four or so at a time: as they finished, i put them in my trusty paella pan, also lined with paper towels, and into the oven to stay warm. when the fish fillets were done, it was time to do the wallys. i was starting to get fryer fatigue, so i simply dropped all the pickle spears into the batter: and fished them out 5 or 6 at a time and dropped them into the fryer: they cooked up well and in short order, and as each batch finished i....you guessed it! finally, everything was done - i unplugged the fryer and plated out lunch. i had intended to place everything on a layer or two of unprinted newsprint paper that i use to start my charcoal chimney for barbecue, but everyone was hungry and said they could live without the experience, so i simply plated up: fine sea salt and malt vinegar for the fish and chips, with ranch dressing for the wallys. everything was really good - the beer batter had a great flavour that worked well with the subtle flavours of the cod fillets. the chips were done just right and the wallys were a really good flavour contrast. i had never heard of deep-frying pickles before this week, but i must say it was a good treat. a few lessons learned: a) prep is key! you want to have everything ready, things cut up, oil hot, pans lined with paper towels, oven warm etc. before you you begin the actual cooking! b) cooking all the chips, then all the fish, then all the wallys seemed like a good idea at the time, but in practice, the holding time in the oven resulted in food that was a bit limp and soggy; it tasted great but didn't quite rise to the level i was hoping for where textures are concerned. the moisture from the food or perhaps the oil (or both) seemed to contribute to the problem, along with the time in the pan in the oven - in spite of being on paper towles, everything was simply soggy. it all seemed cooked well and nothing was undercooked, but perhaps doing a "serving" at a time (cooking a batch of chips fish and wallys to order for each person at a time) would have been a better way to go rather than having chips and fish sitting in the oven for so long. the disadvantage, of course, is that we all would have been eating at different times rather than together. c) this is pretty basic, but i did forget this one: only fill the fryer half full of oil (i filled it maybe two-thirds full) and do small batches at a time! i put too many chip in one batch and the oil did boil over for a moment, making quite a mess. other than that, i would count this as a success, with the caveat that i would probably do an order at a time instead of everything in batches the next time we do this. everyone agreed that, sogginess aside, the food tasted great, although each had his or her own favourite condiments. ketchup seemed to be the choice among many, while others forsook the vinegar and simply used ranch dressing for everything. either way, we certainly had a great lunch on a summer day! |
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