Hey guys, welcome back to Basics with Babish, where this week
we're taking a look at a few ways to simply prepare fish. Whether you're baking or frying,
it's an economically and ecologically responsible way to make dinner tonight. Let's get down to basics.
Alright guys, so let's start out with something really simple,
salmon. We're gonna make a salmon fillet crusted with bread crumbs.
So we're gonna start by toasting some bread crumbs in some melted butter and adding a little bit of freshly chopped thyme and rosemary.
These are Panko bread crumbs, by the way. Go big or go home.
We just want to get a little bit of a roasty, golden color on these bread crumbs before
adding the herbs and maybe toasting for another 30 seconds or so to just sort of wake up those flavors. Now
it's time to set these guys aside because they're gonna have the opportunity to crisp up more in the oven,
but we need to season them with a little bit of kosher salt and, of course, freshly ground black pepper.
You want to try to get into the habit of seasoning every element of a dish on its own, that way there's no bland parts
of your plate. Speaking of which, a nice
50/50 mix of grain mustard and mayo is gonna make an excellent glue for our bread crumb mixture
And now it's time to set the stage upon which our players will perform.
We're gonna cut this hunk of salmon into two even fillets, keeping an eye out for any bones that your local fishmonger
might have missed. Fish will cling to aluminum foil like your landlord clings to your security deposit
so make sure you oil it down with a nonstick spray or some vegetable oil. Place the fillets on top and then remember what I
said, we're gonna season these guys with salt and pepper.
We're now going to apply a generous layer of our tasty mayonnaise glue
(that sounded better in my head)
to each fish fillet.
spreading with the back of a spoon so it coats the fish evenly. And then to help give the breadcrumb mixture some structure we're going
To add an egg white. At first, this mixtures gonna seem a little soggy, but don't worry
It's gonna crisp up real nice in the oven
And as you may have guessed it's now time to spread our bread crumb mixture
evenly over the top of each fish fillet making sure to cover every little bit of mayonnaise glue.
These guys are going in a 325 degree Fahrenheit oven for 18 to 25 minutes depending upon your preferred doneness
I like to shoot for 125 degrees Fahrenheit internal and then what we're left with is a crispy, herby, moist, tender,
flavorful salmon cooked hopefully to a lovely medium-rare
This is a delicious
economical and I think maybe even healthy weeknight dinner for two or four or
Whatever you're into. But what if it's Friday night and you're all dressed up and you want the batter side of fish.
Well, look no further than fish and chips. Let's start by making our chips. Chips translates roughly to big, fat, greasy french fries
So we're gonna cut ourselves some big ol' ten to maybe fifteen millimeter wide fries. Yes
I just switched a metric because we're speaking the Queen's English now. And we've made french fries a few times on this show
so we're gonna try a different method that is
starting the potatoes off in room temperature oil.
Very much the same way that you might start them in room-temperature water
if you're boiling them. Then slowly bringing the oil up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
lets you forgo the usual double frying or freezing or whatever and gives you really deeply crispy french fries right out of the gate
so long as you keep them moving. Once they're a lovely golden brown,
Let them drain on some paper towels and while they're still warm season them with a little bit of kosher salt and keep them warm
in the oven because now we've got bigger fish to fry. Literally. To build our beer batter
We're starting with one and a half cups of all-purpose flour, half a cup of all-purpose cornstarch- aka: cornstarch
and then we're going to season this mixture with a little bit of paprika, a pinch of kosher salt, and a few twists of freshly
ground black pepper before adding baking powder. We're gonna whisk to combine and set aside one cup of this flour mixture to a tray
We're gonna use this for dredging. Then once you've got this separated
we are introducing alcohol to the situation. Add a teaspoon of baking powder, whisk to combine, and add one whole delicious, refreshing
Mexican beer. Administer one to yourself if necessary. Whisk to combine
until it just comes together kind of like pancake batter. It can still be lumpy. We don't want to build up gluten.
Get some nice high-quality white fish like cod or haddock. Start by gently dredging in the flour mixture and then dipping in the beer batter.
Once dipped it is time to drop into a 350 degree Fahrenheit bubbling cauldron of peanut oil
That is my preferred frying oil. If you have an allergy just use vegetable oil. It's fine.
You'll notice how I'm waving the fish back and forth gently- that is to help the batter stay together as we slowly drop our fillet
into the frying oil.
We are letting this guy fry for between 6 to 9 minutes until our batter has turned a beautiful golden brown. Likewise,
we're gonna let this guy drain on paper towels for a minute or two before we serve next to a mountain of french fries and
tartar sauce. So there you have it guys, the healthy and very unhealthy polar extremes
that fish can reach. Give it a try yourself
Take a picture. Tag me on Instagram. Let me know how it goes.
And I will see you guys next week in the new Binging with Babish kitchen.