Recipe: Fried Cod Pieces

[ellyssian]

• 2 large cod filets (or haddock or flounder or any other white fish, really, although if you use something else, you lose the clever word play in the title, which means a possibly more appetizing title, which means less fish for you)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup white flour
• 3/4 cup wheat flour
• 1/4 cup corn meal
• chipotle chile powder
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 quart canola oil

And yes - if you make this with the onion straws, the recipe is the same. Next time, I may do a beer battered fish, but this was done to keep the flour mix identical.

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Mix milk with lemon juice. Let stand 10-15 minutes. Or spend more money to buy fake buttermilk that is made pretty much the same way. Or spend even more money and buy traditional buttermilk.

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Slice cod filets into narrow strips, cutting each in half at the spine.

Place in a glass dish.

Pour buttermilk over the onion.

Allow to sit for 1 hour.

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Mix flours together.

Add spices. Go heavy on the black pepper, it's better that way.

I also added some ground white pepper and a pinch or two of tarragon, but the latter was inconsequential and the former works just as well as more ground pepper.

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Pre-heat canola oil in saute pan, dutch oven, or other appropriate container, to 350 degrees.

Pick up fish from buttermilk, drop into the flour mix.

Shake the extra flour off, drop the coated onions in the oil.

By the time you mix the next batch of milky fish bits in the flour, the ones in the oil will be ready to be turned (unless you use enough oil to cover them).

Cook them a lot less on the second side.

Place on a paper towel to drain.