Cooking Challenge 2013: Beer Battered Fish: How I Impressed My Boyfriend With My Mad Skills

My fish looks pretty damn good

I am still on my quest to actually eat fish.  This is a very long road for me--I am not a huge fish fan and probably never will be. I like to eat things that eat grass.   Bud loves fish, and I love Bud.  So, I have been making fish every other week or so for us--but pretty much just by sticking it in the oven with some kind of topping/sauce and baking it.

This time I went crazy and got a wild hair on my day off.  I called Bud and asked him if he wanted beer battered fish for supper.  Let's just say he was a bit excited and after hanging up, I thought "Shit!  What have I got myself into this time?"  

Enter  Paula Deen.  I figured if anyone knows how to fry something, it's her.  I found her recipe on Food Network, and it's so easy I had to keep rechecking it to make sure I wasn't missing something.  Nope:  beer, flour, seasoning.  Hot oil.  Fish.  Done.

What does make this a little different from other recipes is that you dip the fish into the batter, then into flour before frying.  The flour makes it look all crispy and ridgy looking--like something you'd get at a restaurant.  

Needless to say, Bud was bowled over by the fish.  He inhaled it.  Keeping it warm in the oven worked wonders--every piece I brought out of the oven--even 15 minutes after we started eating--was piping hot and steaming.  And it stayed crunchy.  

I used malt vinegar on my fish and I liked the taste.  I will definitely have to make my own tartar sauce; the stuff I bought tasted horrible.  Ick.  

Here's another look at my first--and certainly not last--attempt at beer battered fish:  I know my mad skills don't extend to camera work, but you get the idea:

By the way, I used cod.  And I made red potatoes seasoned with butter, garlic powder, oregano, salt & pepper.  I decided we had enough fried food with the fish.  

This would also make some tasty fried chicken strips and onion rings, too.

Fish Does Not Taste Like Chicken

Fish does not taste like chicken and that is a problem for me.  

Bud loves fish.  I do not.  As a matter of fact, it's taken me 3 years to actually be able to eat shrimp--but not any which way.  I am particular with my shrimp. I never make fish for Bud, and I feel like a cruel person--it would be like someone never having chocolate when I visit their house.  Sorta.  

Anyway, I told Bud I would try try try to eat more fish.  We bought a huge bag of frozen cod fillets since Bud decided the "mild" fish would probably be a good place for me to start.  I made it a few weeks ago, and it was ok.  I told Bud I can only eat fish if there is some kind of sauce to hide the fact that I am eating fish.  It's all a mental game for me.  Bring on the sauces!  Bud, on the other hand, is quite content eating fish with just a bit of nothing on it.  Ick.  

So my last cod recipe expedition was making a bread crumb topping with melted butter and parmesan cheese mixed in--you put it on the fish and bake it.  It tasted ok to me, and Bud liked it.  I need a bit more jazz, I'm afraid.  I resorted to eating tartar sauce, and I'm not a huge fan of that, either.  Unless it's on a McDonald's fish fillet sandwich.  Then I take the fish off and just eat the bun, cheese and tartar sauce.  It's the same stuff they put on their Big Macs, I believe.  It's tasty.  Sorry.  Regression to childhood Lenten torture.  

Anyway.  Tonight is another cod night.  I am dithering between putting a pesto on the cod, or making a mayo/mustard topping for it.  It all goes in the oven and bakes.  I am missing tomato, so I may try the pesto gig another night.  I'm thinking mayo/mustard is the way to go.  Bud could have had an asparagus and shrimp risotto tonight, if he had known that was on my mind.  Always another cod adventure around the corner...

So fish.  I don't like you.  I understand your benefits, but I still don't like you.  I prefer a lovely steak.  Or a chicken boob.  I am interested in trying fish on the grill as soon as we see some Spring in our lives.  I am going to try salmon with a teriyaki sauce on the grill.  I think I could maybe eat that--very slowly, and in small bites.  

I am even contemplating making my own beer batter and trying that out for a change.  That may very well never cease to amaze Bud.  The things we do for love.