# Fish-n-Chips



## John Smith_inFL

Florida Style !!
fried snapper, fried puppies, fried taters and a frosted tumbler of moo.
(I like the high sided dishes to keep the tartar sauce from running off the plate onto the table).


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## Colbyt

That looks good enough to eat.


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## Nik333

Looks wonderful. If you were to add a vegetable, what would you add?


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## Two Knots

Looks good, we love fish and chips.


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## John Smith_inFL

Nik - normally, I like a small tossed salad with seafood (or anything, in general).
lettuce, tomato, broccoli, onion, and other garden stuff, yada yada yada
but fried fish and coleslaw just goes together.
the weather is preventing any kind of fishing in Florida for the next week or so.
I may have to go to my local Asian grocery store and buy a fish or two of some sort.
all their fish are locally caught saltwater varieties.

.

.


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## wooleybooger

Oddly the first place we ever had fish and chips was a pub in Durango, CO. Said to be authentic. Battered and fried strips of Cod with French Fries. Tasty.


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## John Smith_inFL

and if you ever get "across the pond" those Englanders put some kind of vinegar sauce
on their fries that I never developed a hankering for.
vinegar belongs on pickled veggies and maybe a salad dressing or two.
but not on my french fried taters !!

.


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## Old Thomas

Now you are talking my language. Skip the tartar sauce and it will be perfect. Vinegar is for cleaning coffee machines and making pickles.


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## wooleybooger

Malt vinegar for fish and chips. No ketchup no tartar sauce.


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## BigJim

I have been wanting some good fried fish for a while now. I won't buy catfish from the grocery stores around here, afraid of contaminated fish. We can go upstream and catch some fish and they will be ok, just don't know where the fish in stores are caught. I wish we could buy other fish in this area. Those fried fish, puppies and fries look great. Are your hushpuppies hot or just regular puppies? I like them hot with jalapeno peppers.


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## rjniles

BigJim said:


> I have been wanting some good fried fish for a while now. I won't buy catfish from the grocery stores around here, afraid of contaminated fish. We can go upstream and catch some fish and they will be ok, just don't know where the fish in stores are caught. I wish we could buy other fish in this area. Those fried fish, puppies and fries look great. Are your hushpuppies hot or just regular puppies? I like them hot with jalapeno peppers.


Catfish sold in a supermarket is farm raised. It is fed an unnatural diet of mostly meal and grain products. I would not touch it with a stick. Wild caught is the way to go.

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## John Smith_inFL

Jim - no jalapenos. but a generous amount of Old Bay, Cajun Seasoning, salt, pepper, etc.
it is a delicate dance between the oil temp and the meal mix to get the texture I like.
and I'm still not there. some are crispy and wet on the inside, some are crispy all the way through,
some just don't make it to the table at all.
my mother put in chopped onion & a minced garlic clove, Old Bay, salt, pepper, flat Budweiser beer,
and the kicker is . . . . a handful of 1/4" diced ripe tomato. I often fix it that way but getting a vine ripe tomato with some flavor is tending to be more difficult these days.
oh yeah, I love my fish !! I have eaten farm raised catfish in restaurants in the past - but not now.
have had saltwater cats over the years, but never developed a taste for them.
so fish with scales is my preference.

.


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## Old Thomas

Restaurants in western NY have good fish fries. Usually they have haddock from the cold north Atlantic.


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## Colbyt

wooleybooger said:


> Malt vinegar for fish and chips. No ketchup no tartar sauce.


Have you ever tried mixing malt vinegar and soy sauce 1-4 ratio ?


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## wooleybooger

No I haven't. Sounds interesting.


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## huesmann

Nik333 said:


> Looks wonderful. If you were to add a vegetable, what would you add?


Potatoes aren't vegetables?


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## Two Knots

I like malt vinegar and homemade tarter sauce with fried fish.


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## J. V.

John Smith_inFL said:


> and if you ever get "across the pond" those Englanders put some kind of vinegar sauce
> on their fries that I never developed a hankering for.
> vinegar belongs on pickled veggies and maybe a salad dressing or two.
> but not on my french fried taters !!


Its malt vinegar and it is great on fish and fries. It also comes in handy when making condiments like aioli.
When I was a kid we had an Arthur Treachers restaurant nearby. Its a fish and chips themed place.
This is where I first tried malt vinegar and I have not looked back. 
Your dinner looks fantastic.
But I would never consider having milk with it. Beer is what I would have. I like beer with food. Dinner food.



wooleybooger said:


> Malt vinegar for fish and chips. No ketchup no tartar sauce.


I like ketchup for fries and I like tarter sauce as well. Malt vinegar is nice to have around to kinda shake things up a bit.
I have to make tarter sauce for my wife so its no big deal. She hates anything with horseradish in it. I love horseradish.
I made fried shrimp last night. Large (16-20) shrimp butterflied and breaded traditionally. Homemade slaw and frozen Ore Ida crinkle cut fries. Was excellent.


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## Nik333

huesmann said:


> Potatoes aren't vegetables?


The guy that I asked knew what I meant. It's a debate btw.


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## wooleybooger

J. V. said:


> I like ketchup for fries and I like tarter sauce as well. Malt vinegar is nice to have around to kinda shake things up a bit.
> I have to make tarter sauce for my wife so its no big deal. She hates anything with horseradish in it. I love horseradish.
> I made fried shrimp last night. Large (16-20) shrimp butterflied and breaded traditionally. Homemade slaw and frozen Ore Ida crinkle cut fries. Was excellent.


I use ketchup on fries, mustard sometimes also and I make tartar sauce. Put that on fish and sometimes fries. If you really like tartar sauce it doesn't matter what you put it on.


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## Nik333

John - Would you consider fresh tomato salsa with this? I serve it with a lot of dishes. Basically, tomato, onion, cilantro, garlic & lemon or lime juice. Sometimes plus jalapeno &/or avocado. To me, that plus a dark green vegetable, meat & starch makes a good meal. I agree with the moo, too.

Salsa & poi with chicken or fish is great but I'm not going to assume everyone would like it. 😊
I guess I like sour food. The bunny thread reminded me that I ate sour weeds & flowers as a tiny kid.


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## BigJim

rjniles said:


> Catfish sold in a supermarket is farm raised. It is fed an unnatural diet of mostly meal and grain products. I would not touch it with a stick. Wild caught is the way to go.
> 
> Sent from my Lenovo TB-X606F using Tapatalk


The stores around here, most of the catfish is wild caught. The Tennessee River runs right through the middle of town and is about 1 1/2 miles from me. There is a creek at the foot of Lookout Mountain that dumps into the river. The water is so contaminated from that creek that it is recommended to not even get the water on your skin. I know for a fact commercial fishermen have nets set out just slightly down stream of that creek. They can't sell them here, so the sell the fish to Georgia. Georgia turns right around and sells the same fish right back to Tennessee and other places. They need to stop them from commercially fish there but they don't.

Another reason I won't buy store bought wild caught catfish is 99% of them are Channel cats. Channel cats will eat anything and I mean anything. Blue cats won't, they only eat fish and a flathead or yellow cat will only eat live fish. That is the reason All farm raised catfish are Channel, they are true pond possums and will eat the dog food they feed them, a blue and flathead won't.

If you do want to try catfish cut that dark streak out of the fish, that is the fatty bad tasting part.

John, do you let your hush puppies mix rise really good before deep frying, they will most times never be wet inside if you let the hush puppy mix rise first. I bet the hush puppies your Mom fixed were really goooood.


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## John Smith_inFL

*Jim* - sometimes I let the puppie mix rise while I am getting the fish and fries done.
I am still trying to find that "happy ground" that I can write down what I did so I can replicate it.
the ones I made yesterday (in the photo) were as close to perfect that I have been in a long time.
but - I forgot to put in the chopped onion. will give it another try on the next fish I get.
(I also forgot the cheese grits).

*Nik* - I'm not much of a salsa guy.
I did try canned diced tomatoes in the hush puppies once - not even close to being good.

.


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## BigJim

John Smith_inFL said:


> *Jim* - sometimes I let the puppie mix rise while I am getting the fish and fries done.
> I am still trying to find that "happy ground" that I can write down what I did so I can replicate it.
> the ones I made yesterday (in the photo) were as close to perfect that I have been in a long time.
> but - I forgot to put in the chopped onion. will give it another try on the next fish I get.
> (I also forgot the cheese grits).
> 
> *Nik* - I'm not much of a salsa guy.
> I did try canned diced tomatoes in the hush puppies once - not even close to being good.
> 
> .


Are cheese grits good? I have never tried them, as matter of fact I never ate any kind of grits until I joined the Navy. lol


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## John Smith_inFL

Jim - I thought you were in Tennessee !!
yes, of course cheese grits are good. make them the way you normally do,
and toss in a handful of shredded mild or sharp cheddar cheese at the end of cooking.



















.


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## wooleybooger

John Smith_inFL said:


> Jim - I thought you were in Tennessee !!
> yes, of course cheese grits are good. make them the way you normally do,
> and toss in a handful of shredded mild or sharp cheddar cheese at the end of cooking.
> 
> View attachment 633442
> 
> 
> View attachment 633443
> 
> 
> .


Just reading along here John but Good Lord you're killing me here!


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## Nik333

John Smith_inFL said:


> *Nik* - I'm not much of a salsa guy.
> I did try canned diced tomatoes in the hush puppies once - not even close to being good.


Canned tomatoes in hush puppies sounds terrible. 😧
Fresh tomatoes to make fresh salsa to serve with the meat!


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## BigJim

John Smith_inFL said:


> Jim - I thought you were in Tennessee !!
> yes, of course cheese grits are good. make them the way you normally do,
> and toss in a handful of shredded mild or sharp cheddar cheese at the end of cooking.
> 
> View attachment 633442
> 
> 
> View attachment 633443
> 
> 
> .


John, my Mom and Dad must not have liked grits, we never had any. I still don't much care for them, but I do like hominy really well. I will give the cheese grits a try.


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## wooleybooger

BigJim said:


> John, my Mom and Dad must not have liked grits, we never had any. I still don't much care for them, but I do like hominy really well. I will give the cheese grits a try.


Finally someone besides me who likes hominy.


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## J. V.

For those not familiar with grits or are not fond of them.
Try the yellow stone ground. Its the whole wheat version of grits. They take a little longer to cook, but I love them and have quit buying white grits. They almost have a nutty flavor. Some butter and S&P and you are good to go.
I got my first bag of them at a Christmas some years ago. They came with some country ham in a gift type package.


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## rjniles

J. V. said:


> For those not familiar with grits or are not fond of them.
> Try the yellow stone ground. Its the whole wheat version of grits. They take a little longer to cook, but I love them and have quit buying white grits. They almost have a nutty flavor. Some butter and S&P and you are good to go.
> I got my first bag of them at a Christmas some years ago. They came with some country ham in a gift type package.


Not quite.

White corn makes white grits, and yellow corn makes yellow grits. There is a very slight difference in flavor between the two. The yellow variety has a stronger taste and a gentle hint of sweetness that their white counterparts lack. White grits are milder.

I also like the yellow grits better.

Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk


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## BigJim

J. V. said:


> For those not familiar with grits or are not fond of them.
> Try the yellow stone ground. Its the whole wheat version of grits. They take a little longer to cook, but I love them and have quit buying white grits. They almost have a nutty flavor. Some butter and S&P and you are good to go.
> I got my first bag of them at a Christmas some years ago. They came with some country ham in a gift type package.


I will give them a try. The only way I would eat white grits in the past was with butter and sugar, they aren't too bad like that.


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## Nik333

A multi[subject thread!
John, not to beat a dead horse, but, cooked salsa might be what you're used to. I like that occaisionally with tortilla chips. Fresh salsa is a whole different animal, imo.

Pico de Gallo is similar and is served at Taco Bell. If you have one near you, try it on whatever you're buying. I guess it comes down to a love of fresh, raw vegetables.


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## John Smith_inFL

.sorry - I am not a fan of salsa: fresh, frozen, homemade or in can or in a mason jar - I just don't like it.
and I don't like tortilla chips - or corn tortilla wraps.
I do like white hominy - I seldom eat it, but I do like it.

.


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## Nik333

John Smith_inFL said:


> .sorry - I am not a fan of salsa: fresh, frozen, homemade or in can or in a mason jar - I just don't like it.
> and I don't like tortilla chips - or corn tortilla wraps.
> I do like white hominy - I seldom eat it, but I do like it.
> 
> .


I'm sorry, I don't remember. . . are you from another state originally? I just think it's fascinating how different our tastes and cooking are in the US & world. 

And Bangladesh hasn't added their view, yet!


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## J. V.

rjniles said:


> Not quite.
> White corn makes white grits, and yellow corn makes yellow grits. There is a very slight difference in flavor between the two. The yellow variety has a stronger taste and a gentle hint of sweetness that their white counterparts lack. White grits are milder.
> I also like the yellow grits better.


I thought the white grits were bleached like white flour? Yes they are yellow and I like them a lot.


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## wooleybooger

J. V. said:


> I thought the white grits were bleached like white flour? Yes they are yellow and I like them a lot.


J.V., white flour may be bleached or not bleached. There are many types of flour made from wheat. I currently have on hand Bleached All Purpose flour which is snowy white, if unbleached it will say so on the package, Bread Flour which is a high protein/gluten flour which is not bleached (never ?) and is a darker white color and Semolina which is made from a different variety of wheat. It also is white but bears no resemblance to the other two, more cornmeal texture.


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