I wasn't excited for this meal. When I opened the frozen package of whiting fillets to pull a few out to thaw, they smelled fishy. I contemplated skipping this meal, leaving the fish in the fridge long enough to go bad, then throwing it out. We even went out to eat on Friday night to avoid this one. But Saturday night rolled around and I made myself cook the fillets. Surprise! They were actually pretty good and didn't taste fishy at all. Silly me for being a scaredy-cat!
Crispy Oven-Fried Fish Fillets
Adapted from allrecipes.com
7+/- whiting fillets (skin on is fine, but they need to be boneless)
1/3 c. milk
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. dry Italian bread crumbs
Cooking spray
Tartar sauce, optional
Preheat the oven to 450F. Place a baking rack on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. Rinse fish fillets, then dip into milk. Coat with flour, dip back in the milk, then coat with bread crumbs. Place fillets on the baking rack; spray with cooking spray. Bake 10-15 minutes or until they're done. Serve with tartar sauce if desired.
Both kids ate the first fillet we put on their plates, and Tiny Tot #1 even asked for a 2nd one. Buppy, Tiny Tot #2 and I all ate the fish with the tartar sauce; Tiny Tot #1 preferred his fish plain even though he said he liked the tartar sauce. I honestly wasn't sure they'd eat the fish because they weren't 'fish sticks', but Buppy and I were very pleasantly surprised. They're generally good eaters, so I guess we shouldn't have been.
There is no recipe per say for the tartar sauce I made because I added everything to taste, but here's what went into it: mayo (I'd like to have used 'light', but all we had open was regular), chopped up dill pickles, lemon juice, seasoned salt, garlic salt, black pepper, pickle juice and dried dill weed. I'm not a fan of restaurant or store-bought tartar sauce because they're made using sweet pickles, which I can't stand. This tartar sauce was good enough to eat by the spoonful (in my humble opinion), but I didn't because of the darn calorie content. It really jazzed up the fish though. I highly suggest making this at least a few hours prior to eating so the flavors can meld and the dill weed can rehydrate. Enjoy!
*This post is linked to Life as Mom’s Ultimate Recipe Swap for Thursday, 5/19/11 --- fish!
Let me start off by revealing to everyone that I, Bugaboo, am a pickle junkie. Pickle freak, some might say. I've learned to tame my cravings, but when I was a little girl, no meal could begin at my grandma's house until her homemade pickles were on table. Yeah, I'm that serious.
The problem I've found with most store-bought pickles is that they're too . . . cooked. Not crunchy enough. Not the right color. Granted, I make due because I've never been ambitious enough to make my own and have found that Claussen pickles are a decent stand-in. But seriously --- $3.99 for 1 jar of pickles? Hmph. There has to be a better way. Well, my friends, there is!!
I'm so thankful I stumbled on a recipe for refrigerator dill pickles over at Annie’s Eats. The main reason I've never made delicious little spears o' cucumber into pickles before is that, to be honest, canning intimidates me. Probably has to do with the burns on my legs from a few years ago, but I'll chalk part of it up to laziness too. And the amount of stuff I don't have that I'd have to purchase. Too much work!
I'm happy to say that this recipe really couldn't be any easier, and the pickles turn our fantastically crunchy and retain their vibrant green color. I'm not sure what I'll do when Mr. Winter comes back and I can't find pickling cukes anymore, but that's a worry for a few months down the road.
Refrigerator Dill Pickles
From Annie’s Eats
Ingredients for the brine:
3 c. water
6 Tbsp. white vinegar
3 Tbsp. kosher salt
Minced garlic
Fresh dill
Pickling cucumbers, cut into spears [and chips! I made pickle chips too!]
Combine all brine ingredients in a pitcher, stirring well to dissolve salt. Put several sprigs of fresh dill in the bottom of each jar. Pack half full with cucumber spears. Layer with more sprigs of fresh dill. Finish filling the jar with cucumbers. Sprinkle some minced garlic on top. Pour brine into the jar until it is full and pickles are completely submerged. Put the lid on and allow to refrigerate at least 2 days before eating.Like I said man, wicked good! I might cut down on the salt next time, using only 2 Tbsp. instead of 3 to see what happens; they seem to get saltier the longer they sit. Serious yummage here folks, and no cooking or canning! Enjoy!*Pics to come --- they're still on my camera. Story of my life!
