Potato Chip Pan Fried Fish

  Bettie and I are fish eaters. One of our favorite type of fish is Sole. I buy it frozen at our local HyVee store and it is quite good. They do carry some fresh fish, but not this type.

  This recipe called for a thinner fish and a quick cooking time so decided to try it. We both decided we prefer the way I usually fix fish, Sole Meuniere, but this made a nice alternative. The recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens easy comfort foods and uses potato chips and cornmeal as the coating. It states in the tip that you need to make the sure the fish is patted as dry as possible to help the coating stick. I did this and the coating stayed on very well. The potato chips helped season it and I just added a small amount of pepper. There is a variation which I will list that adds cayenne pepper and I think that might have been good. Serve with some lemon wedges and tartar sauce for a quick and light meal.

Potato Chip Pan Fried Fish

1 pound fresh or frozen fish fillets, ½ to ¾ inch thick

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 Tablespoons water

1 ⅓ cups finely crushed potato chips

3 Tablespoons cornmeal or fine dry bread crumbs

Dash ground black pepper

Oil or shortening for frying

  Thaw fish, if frozen Rinse dish; pat dry with paper towels. Cut into four serving size pieces if necessary. In a shallow dish. Combine egg and the water. In another shallow dish, stir together crushed chips, cornmeal, and pepper. Dip fish into egg mixture, coat fish with potato chip mixture.

  Preheat oven to 300°F. In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch oil. Add half of the fish in a single layer; fry on one side until golden. Turn carefully. Fry until second side is golden. Allow 3 to 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Keep warm in oven while frying remaining fish, Makes 4 Servings

Spicy Hot Fish: Prepare as above except omit potato chips and black pepper. Increase cornmeal to ¼ cup and combine with ¼ cup all purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon paprika.

Cost 2011:  Sole-$5.95, potato chips-50¢, cornmeal-pennies. 4 Servings-$6.45 or $1.61 per serving