fish. it's what's for dinner. again.

ok, so i have gotten over my fear of fish... or at least of cooking it. i don't know why, but i have always been intimidated by fish, and honestly, until the other week, i had only done fish sticks. you know, the frozen ones you get in a box. yup, did those twice. not too shabby. oh, wait, while asher was on his fat-free diet, we had some white fish kabobs, and those were pretty good, too!

but my recent foray into the world of actually cooking fish for real, you know, following a recipe and not the instructions on the package, was quite serendipitous. you'll recall the tale of the fish that (didn't) get away from last week, that delicious talapia that was thiiiiiiiiiiiiis good! well, i have another tale fer ye, me hearties.

yar, on thursday last, i be wanderin' ye old marketplace (read: superstore), when ahoy! i spy some sole! and a fine fish it be, for it be marked down by 30% (a tidbit about that later on). so i grabbed what i might and tossed him into me bucket (read: shopping cart) and i make way to the blessed harbour that be mine (read: home). yar!

so here is the recipe i tried out tonight:

Crispy Fish Fillets
1 egg
2 tbsp prepared yellow mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups instant mashed potato flakes
1/4 cup oil (for frying)
4 (6 oz) sole fillets

1. in a shallow dish, whisk together egg, mustard and salt; set aside. place potato flakes in a separate shallow dish.
2. heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
3. dip fillets in egg mixture, then dredge fillets through potato flakes, being sure to entirely coat the fish. for extra crispy, dip in egg mixture and flakes again.
4. fry fish fillets in oil for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown.


ADAPTATIONS: first, being out of eggs, i used egg whites instead. (you'll note, this also reduces the fat content, which can be an important consideration when you're frying anything battered.) also, following a couple tips on the allrecipes.com page, i used flour instead of instant mashed potato flakes (which are ew, in my opinion), and i added parsley and garlic powder to the flour. another tip i got was to dip the fish in the flour first, then in the egg mixture, then the flour again. this allows the flour to stick to the fish better.

REVIEW: three words: a. ma. zing. it was absolutely delicious. blithe enjoyed it, and i actually had seconds. and since the boys were both asleep, i only made 3 pieces. and well, their loss is blithe's and my gain. mwahaha but i still have some fillets left, so i will most definitely make this again. and i was really surprised by one other thing with this recipe: i expected it to taste really strongly of mustard. apparently, i was wrong. the cooking process completely mellowed out the flavour, so that if you didn't know there was mustard in the batter, you'd never know. really, it was delicious and super easy to make and we really enjoyed it. in fact, it's going to become a regular.... especially since i've discovered just how cheap fish is!! which leads in nicely to my tidbit mentioned above...

early. morning. grocery shopping. seriously. i'll admit, i thought annie was insane. until i gave it a whirl last week before picking up the kids, and hokey doodle! i got a week's worth of groceries for $42!!!! i'm not even kidding! i got the 6 sole fillets for about $4.50, i got a huge club pack of honey garlic sausage (that's 12 sausages) for about $6, two fresh pizzas for $3 each, and all kinds of other little deals. just don't go to my store on thursdays, or i may be reduced to violence over a piece of fish or chicken or something. just saying.