Fish n’ Chips

I had been looking forward to last night for a few weeks. My friend Star came over to our house to celebrate her birthday. She requested her birthday dinner to be Michael’s famous fish n’ chips.

Usually Michael uses Basa Fish. That has been our favorite. Basa is often hard to find in the store though, so Tilapia is the stand-by. This time? Michael used cod. It was the first time we’ve used Cod.

The first bowl is flour. The second is egg and Tabasco sauce. The third: Panko bread crumbs. (FYI: If you are buying bread crumbs at a grocery store you are paying too much! Don’t do it! Michael got a 5 pound bag of bread crumbs at Cash n’ Carry for $4. Check your local restaurant supply stores first.)

You can season the breadcrumbs with whatever herbs you want. While Michael was preparing the fish, I made the salad for the three of us.

Can you believe that Star has NEVER had sweet potato fries? I was shocked when she told me that. I said we’d make her our new favorite fries.

The fries were baked in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. During that time Michael was in charge of cooking the fish in the oil. I was honestly too scared to do that. Hot oil in a skillet is never something I want to do!

The fish cooked fast. My tip with making fish and chips: stay close by because it will always cook faster than you’re expecting!

While the fish dried off on paper towels to soak up extra oil I got the fries ready and we all sat down to eat.

Fresh lemon makes fish so much better! We all sat down to eat dinner and the food was devoured.

I ate two fish and Star and I split the third. The fries were good but could have been baked a little bit longer. The verdict on the cod: the thinner pieces of fish were much better than the thicker cuts. I think that’s why the Basa fish works so well–it’s thin and cooks quickly without drying out.

I was stuffed after dinner but everything was so delicious it was worth it.

Star picked up dessert: Häagen-Dazs ice cream. Oh my gosh. I cannot remember the last time I had “real” ice cream and not light ice cream.  I’ll be honest, it caused me a little bit of anxiety but it was a special occasion so I tried not to beat myself up.

The peanut topping really did make the dessert even better! It was kinda crazy to eat the real ice cream–270 calories for one serving. I ate one serving only. All I could think about was “270 calories??” Honestly I’m okay with light ice cream. I think it tastes fine!

Star is the one that comes over and plays with my kitties when Michael and I go on vacation. So Fat Kitty was very confused as to why Auntie Star was there when we were there!

Fat Kitty helped Star open her birthday presents.

“Don’t bother me when I’m playing with bows!” It was a good night with good food. If you’ve never tried to make sweet potato fries–you must! They are so much better than regular fries. And healthier.

QUESTION: Do you ever make fish n’ chips? What kind of fish do you use?