Healthy Fish & Chips

When we moved to Maine I knew to expect lobster on every menu and I was not disappointed. But the one dish I hadn’t expected to find everywhere was Fish & Chips. It makes sense certainly, living right on the ocean, but I believe the historic connection between New England and Britain also plays a big part. I’d be interested in knowing whether other coastal New England communities have such a staunch Fish & Chips following as Portland. Anyway, when we moved here we started taste testing Fish & Chips wherever we’d go. My daughters LOVE the dish, as do my husband & I. Unfortunately the traditional incarnations are a double whammy. High in sodium (from the batter) and WAY TOO HIGH IN FAT (from the deep frying). My husband has sworn off restaurant Fish & Chips altogether for fear of a coronary. But no need to reinvent the wheel. Thanks to today’s heart healthy, salt free and LOW SODIUM version courtesy of Let’s Cook! Before you contemplate the difficulty of making homemade Fish & Chips, let me reassure you. Let’s Cook! is a cookbook made for CHILDREN. My daughters and I have successfully recreated nearly every recipe in the book, all while having a great time. So no excuses. Pick up your favorite white fleshed fish, 4 potatoes, and some salt free breadcrumbs. Everything else is child’s play. Serve with lemon wedges, malt vinegar & salt free ketchup. You can even make your own low sodium tartar sauce by combining homemade mayonnaise with B & G unsalted sweet relish. SO GOOD!

Yields 4 servings.

SODIUM CONTENT: 147 mg per serving

INGREDIENTS:

The FISH:
4 T. flour
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 eggs
2 c. salt free seasoned breadcrumbs or low sodium Panko breadcrumbs
1 T. dried herbs (a single herb or mix of favorites, such as parsley, dill, thyme, etc.)
4 fillets of haddock, pollock, cod or other white fleshed fish

The CHIPS:
4 large potatoes, scrubbed
6 T. olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Get out a large baking sheet, cover with aluminum foil and set aside.

Measure the flour into a wide shallow bowl, add freshly ground black pepper to taste and stir to combine. Set aside.

Break the eggs into another wide shallow bowl and beat well. Set aside.

Measure the bread crumbs into a large plastic bag. Add the tablespoon of desired herbs, seal bag and shake well to combine. Set aside.

Cut the fish fillets in half, yielding 8 pieces total.

When battering the fish it’s easiest to work with one piece at a time, completing all the steps before moving onto the next piece.

First dredge the fish fillet completely in the seasoned flour. Once coated, dip the floured fillet in egg, coating completely. Last, place the moistened fillet into the plastic bag, seal and shake gently to coat. Once the fillet is totally coated in bread crumbs, carefully remove from bag and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat process with the remaining fillets until all pieces are battered. Then place the tray of fish in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Next make the chips. Place a piece of parchment on a baking sheet and set aside. Cut each of the well scrubbed potatoes into 8 roughly equal wedges. Arrange the wedges on the baking sheet and brush with half of the olive oil. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper. Turn wedges over and brush the second side with the remaining oil. Season with more pepper, if desired.

Place baking sheet with potatoes on the middle rack in the oven. Bake 20 minutes. At the end of this time, remove potatoes from oven and turn over all the wedges so they bake on the second side. At this time, remove the fish from the fridge and place both trays into the oven – the potatoes on the middle rack and the fish higher up. Bake 15-20 minutes, until both the fish & chips are crispy and brown. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

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