Preparing Fish: A Delightful and Economical Option

Fish is an economically and ecologically responsible way to make dinner tonight, offering a variety of options for those looking to explore its culinary potential. In this article, we'll take a closer look at two simple yet delicious recipes that showcase the versatility of fish: salmon with bread crumb crust and fish and chips.

Salmon Fillet Crusted with Bread Crumbs

To start, let's begin with something really simple: salmon fillet crusted with bread crumbs. We're going to make this dish using Panko bread crumbs, which are toasted in melted butter and infused with freshly chopped thyme and rosemary. The goal is to achieve a roasty, golden color on the bread crumbs, so we toast them for about 30 seconds to wake up those flavors. Before adding the herbs, we season the bread crumbs with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to ensure every element of the dish has its own unique flavor profile.

To create the crumb mixture, we combine a nice 50/50 mix of grain mustard and mayo, which serves as an excellent glue for our bread crumb mixture. Next, we cut the salmon into two even fillets, keeping an eye out for any bones that your local fishmonger might have missed. We oil down the aluminum foil with nonstick spray or vegetable oil to prevent the fish from clinging to it.

Now it's time to apply a generous layer of mayonnaise glue to each fish fillet, spreading it evenly with the back of a spoon. To add structure to our breadcrumb mixture, we'll also add an egg white. At first, this mix might seem soggy, but don't worry – it will crisp up nicely in the oven. We then spread the bread crumb mixture evenly over the top of each fish fillet, making sure to cover every little bit of mayonnaise glue.

Finally, we place the salmon fillets in a 325-degree Fahrenheit oven for 18 to 25 minutes, depending on our preferred level of doneness. I like to aim for an internal temperature of 125 degrees Fahrenheit, at which point we'll have a crispy, herby, moist, tender, and flavorful salmon dish that's perfect for a weeknight dinner.

Fish and Chips: A Classic Comfort Food

Now, if it's Friday night and you're all dressed up and want the batter side of fish, look no further than fish and chips. This classic comfort food is an excellent option for those who love fried foods. To start, we'll make our chips by cutting ourselves some big, fat, greasy French fries – roughly 10 to 15 millimeters wide.

We begin by starting these potatoes off in room-temperature oil, which gives us a method similar to starting them in room-temperature water if you're boiling them. Then, slowly bringing the oil up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, we skip the usual double frying or freezing process and achieve crispy French fries right out of the gates – as long as we keep them moving.

Once our chips are a lovely golden brown, we let them drain on paper towels while still warm, seasoning them with a little bit of kosher salt. Now it's time to build our beer batter by combining one and a half cups of all-purpose flour, half a cup of all-purpose cornstarch, and seasoning it with paprika, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

We then whisk this mixture together and set aside one cup for dredging. Next, we gently start by gently dredging in the flour mixture and then dipping our high-quality white fish – such as cod or haddock – into the beer batter. It's essential to let the batter just come together like pancake batter; we don't want to build up gluten.

With our fish dipped in the beer batter, it's time to drop it into a 350-degree Fahrenheit bubbling cauldron of peanut oil. We wave the fish back and forth gently to help the batter stay together as we slowly drop it into the frying oil.

We let this guy fry for between six to nine minutes until our batter has turned a beautiful golden brown, then drain it on paper towels for a minute or two before serving next to a mountain of French fries and tartar sauce.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey guys, welcome back to Basics with Babish, where this weekwe're taking a look at a few ways to simply prepare fish. Whether you're baking or frying,it's an economically and ecologically responsible way to make dinner tonight. Let's get down to basics.Alright guys, so let's start out with something really simple,salmon. We're gonna make a salmon fillet crusted with bread crumbs.So we're gonna start by toasting some bread crumbs in some melted butter and adding a little bit of freshly chopped thyme and rosemary.These are Panko bread crumbs, by the way. Go big or go home.We just want to get a little bit of a roasty, golden color on these bread crumbs beforeadding the herbs and maybe toasting for another 30 seconds or so to just sort of wake up those flavors. Nowit's time to set these guys aside because they're gonna have the opportunity to crisp up more in the oven,but we need to season them with a little bit of kosher salt and, of course, freshly ground black pepper.You want to try to get into the habit of seasoning every element of a dish on its own, that way there's no bland partsof your plate. Speaking of which, a nice50/50 mix of grain mustard and mayo is gonna make an excellent glue for our bread crumb mixtureAnd now it's time to set the stage upon which our players will perform.We're gonna cut this hunk of salmon into two even fillets, keeping an eye out for any bones that your local fishmongermight have missed. Fish will cling to aluminum foil like your landlord clings to your security depositso make sure you oil it down with a nonstick spray or some vegetable oil. Place the fillets on top and then remember what Isaid, we're gonna season these guys with salt and pepper.We're now going to apply a generous layer of our tasty mayonnaise glue(that sounded better in my head)to each fish fillet.spreading with the back of a spoon so it coats the fish evenly. And then to help give the breadcrumb mixture some structure we're goingTo add an egg white. At first, this mixtures gonna seem a little soggy, but don't worryIt's gonna crisp up real nice in the ovenAnd as you may have guessed it's now time to spread our bread crumb mixtureevenly over the top of each fish fillet making sure to cover every little bit of mayonnaise glue.These guys are going in a 325 degree Fahrenheit oven for 18 to 25 minutes depending upon your preferred donenessI like to shoot for 125 degrees Fahrenheit internal and then what we're left with is a crispy, herby, moist, tender,flavorful salmon cooked hopefully to a lovely medium-rareThis is a deliciouseconomical and I think maybe even healthy weeknight dinner for two or four orWhatever you're into. But what if it's Friday night and you're all dressed up and you want the batter side of fish.Well, look no further than fish and chips. Let's start by making our chips. Chips translates roughly to big, fat, greasy french friesSo we're gonna cut ourselves some big ol' ten to maybe fifteen millimeter wide fries. YesI just switched a metric because we're speaking the Queen's English now. And we've made french fries a few times on this showso we're gonna try a different method that isstarting the potatoes off in room temperature oil.Very much the same way that you might start them in room-temperature waterif you're boiling them. Then slowly bringing the oil up to 350 degrees Fahrenheitlets you forgo the usual double frying or freezing or whatever and gives you really deeply crispy french fries right out of the gateso long as you keep them moving. Once they're a lovely golden brown,Let them drain on some paper towels and while they're still warm season them with a little bit of kosher salt and keep them warmin the oven because now we've got bigger fish to fry. Literally. To build our beer batterWe're starting with one and a half cups of all-purpose flour, half a cup of all-purpose cornstarch- aka: cornstarchand then we're going to season this mixture with a little bit of paprika, a pinch of kosher salt, and a few twists of freshlyground black pepper before adding baking powder. We're gonna whisk to combine and set aside one cup of this flour mixture to a trayWe're gonna use this for dredging. Then once you've got this separatedwe are introducing alcohol to the situation. Add a teaspoon of baking powder, whisk to combine, and add one whole delicious, refreshingMexican beer. Administer one to yourself if necessary. Whisk to combineuntil it just comes together kind of like pancake batter. It can still be lumpy. We don't want to build up gluten.Get some nice high-quality white fish like cod or haddock. Start by gently dredging in the flour mixture and then dipping in the beer batter.Once dipped it is time to drop into a 350 degree Fahrenheit bubbling cauldron of peanut oilThat is my preferred frying oil. If you have an allergy just use vegetable oil. It's fine.You'll notice how I'm waving the fish back and forth gently- that is to help the batter stay together as we slowly drop our filletinto the frying oil.We are letting this guy fry for between 6 to 9 minutes until our batter has turned a beautiful golden brown. Likewise,we're gonna let this guy drain on paper towels for a minute or two before we serve next to a mountain of french fries andtartar sauce. So there you have it guys, the healthy and very unhealthy polar extremesthat fish can reach. Give it a try yourselfTake a picture. Tag me on Instagram. Let me know how it goes.And I will see you guys next week in the new Binging with Babish kitchen.\n"