A proper Cape Island Fish Fry supper.
We do this as a treat, and it always gets rave reviews here.
This is all deep fried in tallow (rendered beef fat from our cows) but you could use vegetable oil. But I do recommend tallow or lard.
I use two deep sided pots, one for the fish and one for the fries. We are very picky here about not frying potatoes after fish. Nothing worse than French fries that taste “fishy”.
First start your fries:
Peel and cut potatoes into strips.
Put immediately into water. We used our homegrown ones which are smaller but beyond delicious.
Heat oil to 180 degrees.
Drain and dry potatoes off very well.
Par fry the potatoes for a few minutes and drain on a cookie sheet lined with a paper bag. This step makes them very crispy.
Heat oil up to 350 degrees.
Sprinkle par-fried fries with a bit of sugar (this browns them nicely) .
Return fries to the pot and fry approximately 15-20 minutes until golden brown and feeling “light”.
Drain on paper bag. Salt/season immediately.
While fries are cooking during their second fry. Get ready to fry the fish in another deep sided pot.
Fish Batter
1 cup flour (I use Speerville organic)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp melted fat or tallow
1 cup water
Mix together and coat fish. We use haddock usually. The fresher the better.
Heat oil to 350 degrees, and fry on each side until they are floating on top of oil and browned nicely all over. Drain on a paper bag on a cookie sheet.
Enjoy piping hot.
Some notes :
If making for a big crowd, I keep the fries warm in the oven as they cook.
I freeze the French fry tallow once cooled to be heated and used again.
The tallow I fried the fish in, I toss with oatmeal and leftover bits of pumpkin seeds etc for the chickens to have a nice treat. We are getting a cold snap so this will be a nice top up for them.
Love Jenn
