Playoff fever is hitting the city of Vancouver, and even though I haven’t made a post about it yet… rest assured, I have been watching every Canucks game and following the team with dedication this year. After all, I did wear my jersey every single day of the playoffs last year as my “playoff beard”. You can check out some of my other posts on the Canucks.

I think the Canucks have a pretty good shot at the playoffs this year, despite some problems in the last two games against the Kings. I think they will pull through and get a win tonight, and we’ll see the Sedins step up again and hopefully Edler will come out hitting. It’s been a humbling time for Luongo and I think many fans are falling off the Lou bandwagon as his performance has been less than stellar as of late. Still — I believe in Blue and Lou (get it?  ha ha) and I’m rooting for my ‘Nucks all the way.

Go Canucks Go!

Anyway, in other news, this past weekend Allan and I cooked up some pretty ridiculous fish and chips. Yes, we cooked it in duck fat. Wait… before you recoil, know this: animal fat gets a bad rap but it’s actually pretty good for you. It doesn’t contain any of the chemicals that some butters, margarines and oils do… and it certainly tastes a lot better. Still, if you don’t want to cook using animal fat, simply modify this recipe and use canola oil instead.

Other compliments to the meal that we made?

Homemade aged-cheddar cheese buttermilk biscuits… (see recipe here) …

And dark chocolate chunk cookies (see recipe here) for dessert.

DECADENT GUINNESS-BATTERED FISH AND CHIPS COOKED IN DUCK FAT RECIPE

1 package of duck fat (approx 8 oz or more, you can find this at your local butcher or in Vancouver at Oyama Sausage on Granville Island)
Canola oil for frying (a few cups depending on how much duck fat you use)
2-4 large russet or other starchy potatoes, peeled and chopped into fry strips the size of a finger
1 cup flour
1 cup rice flour plus 1/2 cup rice flour for dredging
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder/cayenne/paprika (choose one or use a mix)
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley (optional)
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 can of Guinness beer or other dark beer (use about 75% of the can) .. THIS MUST BE COLD.
2 fillets of cod, halibut, haddock or turbot fish (approx 8 oz each, cut into half on an angle)
Tartar sauce, malt vinegar and lemon squeezes if you want

1. Heat the duck fat and enough canola oil (likely 1-2 cups, enough to cover the chips and eventually the fish) in a large bottomed pot or a deep fryer to 325 degrees F. Use a oil/candy thermometer if you have one, otherwise try and eyeball it on medium-high heat.

2. Place the chips in the oil/fat and dry for approximately 2 or three minutes. They won’t be fully cooked yet, but remove them to a plate lined with plenty of paper towel to drain.

3. Raise the temperature to 375 degrees F and then start mixing your dry ingredients.

4. In a large bowl, mix together the rice and normal flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, chili powder, and about 75% of the parsley. Now, mix in the egg. Whisk in the beer until the batter is smooth. Now quickly coat the fish in the rice flour (on a separate plate) and then dip them into the batter, making sure you shake off the excess batter. Too much batter will cause your fish to be kinda mushy with overly thick batter.

5. You are now going to fry the fish and the chips in the same pot. If there isn’t enough space for both, do it in batches (fries first and then fish for 4-5 mins each). Otherwise, place the fries and fish in the pot making sure they are submerged completely. Fry for 4-5 mins until crispy brown. You may want to flip over the pieces of fish at around 2 minutes so that both sides are evenly brown. Remove to a plate. Let sit for a couple minutes (the fish will continue to cook inside and this will allow it to retain the juiciness).

6. Sprinkle with freshly ground salt and pepper and a little fresh parsley.  Serve and eat… yum! I ate mine with a biscuit instead of fries, but Allan had his with the chips. Both taste great! Sooooo good. It was really crispy.

Tags: batter, beer-battered, Cod, cooking, duck fat, fish and chips, food, Guinness, haddock, Halibut, recipe, turbot

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 12:09 pm and is filed under Canucks, Food and Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.