A Lifestyle Blog by Mwahaki King

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Sunday 27 November 2016

What's For Dinner? ~ Healthy Fish & Chips


Hello lovely people! I'm back at it again with a seafood recipe. Another delicious cod dish. Spending large parts of my childhood in London means that there are few things I love as much as some good fish and chips. And although I'm hoping to do a family trip back to the UK sometime soon, it has been quite a while since I've had decent fish and chips. That was until I puttered around the kitchen and came up with this gem.


Having lived in California and New England in my adult life, I've had my share of mouth-watering fish tacos, lobster and crab; but I must say I've been a tad disappointed with the American attempts at fish and chips I've sampled so far. BUT if any of you know of any great fish and chip places in New England (or the wider US) do let me know in the comments below. I'm always up for trying new places and would love to give them a whirl :)

With all that being said, there is still a bit of American flare to my healthy twist on fish and chips. I'm talking about sweet potato fries! I'm sure other places have sweet potato fries, but it was in America that I found them particularly ubiquitous. Right up there with clam chowdah in New England and BBQ ribs in the South, sweet potato fries are one of my favourite things to eat in America. As such, I thought I'd give them a try at home. 



Trying to stay in the healthy lane, I rounded out the dish with breaded cod and steamed broccoli. 
So yes, while this is a far cry from the greasy seafood fare of my youth, it is still at its core simply fish and chips. Just with a bit of an update...and what's not to love about that?

For this dish to serve 2 people you'll need the following:


CHIPS (aka Sweet Potato Fries)
1 Large Organic Sweet Potato (* I get mine from a Whole Foods where they are quite large, if the sweet potatoes in your local grocery store run small, get 2 - 3)
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
A sprinkling of Rock Salt

FISH
3/4 lb of Atlantic Cod Fillet, cut into strips
1 cup Seasoned Breadcrumbs
1 tsp Paprika
2 Eggs
1 tsp Olive Oil

BROCCOLI
2 cups of Fresh Broccoli, cut into florets


INSTRUCTIONS
BROCCOLI
  • Steam broccoli until al-dente, approximately 10 minutes


CHIPS (aka Sweet Potato Fries)
  • Pre-heat oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a baking tray with aluminium foil. Peel and chop sweet potatoes and place them on the foil

  • Pour olive oil over the potatoes, sprinkle rock salt, Mrs. Dash, cayenne pepper and garlic powder
  • Now it's time to get your hands dirty!  Use your hands to make sure that all the potato slices get covered with the olive oil - seasoning mixture


  • Cook them for 25 - 30 minutes, but check on them often. Occasionally remove the pan from the oven to toss the potatoes around, thus ensuring that they're fully coated and will cook evenly.

  • Once fries are done, turn off the oven and line a bowl with grease-proof paper, a.k.a parchment paper. [Do NOT confuse with wax paper, as wax paper should NOT go in an oven as it can cause smoke]
  • Place fries in the bowl and leave them in the cooling oven until you're finished with the rest of the dish. The paper will get rid of excess grease and the time in the cooling oven will keep the chips warm and allow them to get a bit crisp.
Moving on to the...

FISH
  • Crack your eggs into a bowl, whisk and set aside
  • In another bowl mix Mrs. Dash, cayenne pepper and seasoned breadcrumbs
  • To speed this breading process along place your fish strips, egg bowl and breadcrumb bowl in a row similar to the one shown below




  • Now, take one fish strip, dunk it into the egg, remove and roll it in the breadcrumbs. Then place on a clean plate. Repeat until all the fish strips are breaded

  • Heat a frying pan until it begins to smoke. Add olive oil and swirl to coat. Turn down to medium-high and place fish strips in the frying pan
  • When breadcrumbs start to become golden, flip the strips over
  • Cook for another few minutes (until fish has become opaque and is no longer translucent -- you can cut one strip open and test, the fish should now be white inside, not clear. Overall, the battered cod takes approximately just 10 minutes to cook)
  • Turn off the stove. Take chips out of the oven and serve with steamed broccoli



And there you have it: tasty, guilt-free fish & chips. Dig in!

4 comments:

  1. I usually don't feel like chips but cod and fish and chips is a different story, I love it! The sweet potato fries look amazing too.

    www.thesundaymode.com

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    1. Thanks, The Sunday Mode! I'm so glad you like it :) The sweet potato fries are probably my favourite bit too, they're so good I sometimes just snack on them alone, yummm!

      Thanks again for reading,
      M.King xxx

      It's a King Thing | www.itisakingthing.com

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