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August 10, 2009

Better Bites: Oven Baked Fish and Chips

First up be sure and stop by over at the Greenists today. It's my day to post and this time I'm sharing some great ideas for what to do with your bounty of summer vegetables! Pop over and take a look and then let me know what your favorite things are to do with your summer veggies, because I love to see what others do and you may give me a new idea or two!

Now let's get started with Better Bites!

Fish and chips...What's not to like? This combo is one of my all time favorite comfort foods! I don't make it often though because although I don't have an issue with frying from time to time, it's a lot of work! It would be nice to have fish and chips more often so I started thinking about ways to take them and make them a little lighter, all while having a fabulous meal and not losing any of the taste! That's just what this oven version does!

What You'll Need For the Chips:
2 pounds of potatoes, cut into wedges roughly the same size (Note: I used Yukon Gold, but you can use whatever you like.)
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Finely ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Wash potatoes and cut them into wedges. Make sure the wedges are roughly the same size so they'll cook evenly. Place them in a glass bowl.

Pour olive oil, a pinch of sea salt and some finely ground pepper over the potatoes and toss to coat:

Add potatoes to a 13 X 9 inch dish and spread out evenly:

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until "chips" are golden brown and fork tender:

Let sit for 3-5 minutes before serving.

Notes: These are fabulous sprinkled with a little malt vinegar just before eating.

What You'll Need For The Fish:
1 lb of cod, cut into 4-5 pieces (Note: Any firm fish will work.)
Sea salt
Hot sauce
1 1/4 cups of stone ground yellow corn meal, divided
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of fine ground black pepper
2 heaping teaspoons of Cajun seasoning (Note: If the Cajun seasoning you are using has salt, then omit the teaspoon of sea salt.)
1/2 to 3/4 ups of buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 F. (Note: If you're making "chips" too then you can just add the fish toward the end of the baking time for the "chips".)

First rinse your fish and pat dry. Cut into 4-5 pieces:

The little one there is for Lex.

Place the pieces of fish on a plate and sprinkle generously with sea salt and hot sauce on both sides:

Set fish aside and prepare your batter. (Note: You can do this step the night before if you like and place the seasoned fillets in the fridge in an air tight container until ready to cook the next day.)

Mix one cup of corn meal with sea salt, black pepper and Cajun seasoning. Stir to mix. Add buttermilk slowly until a very thick batter forms. (Note: Depending on humidity you may need part of the buttermilk or all of it...Just keep an eye. Your batter should support the weight of your fish without sinking much.) Let sit for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the fish with the remaining 1/4 cup of corn meal on both sides of the fish:

Once the fish is sprinkled place one piece in the batter:

Next turn the fish over and make sure both sides are coated well with the batter:

Place coated fish in a baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray:

Repeat this process until all of your fillets are coated.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until fish is golden brown and done through.

Notes: Surprisingly the hot sauce and the Cajun seasoning doesn't make the fish "hot". It just gives it a nice over all flavor. You could really do this with any seasoning....Old Bay, Soul Food Seasoning, etc. Jamison's dad makes his fish this way and then fries it. We like the method so well that we do all of our breaded fish that way!

Posted by Dianne at August 10, 2009 9:03 AM

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Comments

Posted by: ingrid at August 10, 2009 10:41 AM

Posted by: Dianne at August 10, 2009 2:45 PM