A fish fry

One of the best parts about living in the Pacific Northwest and being from Texas is showing off awesome seafood to the people that visit you. We've lived here for four years, and we are extremely fortunate to have had lots of wonderful people come stay with us from back home. And almost every time we get an overnight guest, we'll cook up something from here or here or, even better, something we've dug or caught on our own.

In-laws have been with us for the past week, and shonuf, we ate the crap out of some seafood. We snagged some gorgeous true cod at the market. As I've mentioned before, frying things is tricky business for me. The perfect combination of golden, crispy crust and perfectly cooked meat/veggie is a holy grail. Batter can turn to goop. Protein can either be underdone or rendered tough and chewy. 

But when you nail it, oh MAN does it feel good. This is how this fish turned out. The fish was flaky and moist, the crust was flavorful and crunchy but the flavor of the fish still shone through. After seventy gajillion attempts, I think I finally happened upon a recipe that I will turn to again and again. 

And while you're at it, whip up some coleslaw. Disclaimer 1: this would be a total pain to make without a food processor. I don't think I'd hand grate all this business. Of course, you could buy those nifty pre-grated bags. Disclaimer 2: I'm not a big cole slaw fan. Line up typical seafood/barbecue sides, and I'd pick about 30 things before I landed on cole slaw. But this really surprised me. I made it because I knew that aforementioned in-laws are big slaw fans. So I made it my way - cutting out some of the mayo and sweetening it with applesauce.

Fried cod

2 large filets of cod (about 1.5 lbs)

salt and pepper

1 12 oz. can of beer (I snagged one of FIL's Miller Lites)

2 1/2 cups flour

a few shakes of seasoning salt

a few squirts of hot sauce (I used sriracha)

oil for frying

In a large wok or dutch oven, heat a few inches of oil on medium high.

Pat fish dry. Cut filets on the diagonal into two inch pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour beer into bowl and whisk in 1 1/2 cups flour. Add seasoning and hot sauce and whisk until just combined. Pour remaining cup of flour onto large plate. Pick up a piece of fish at the tip with two fingers. Dip it into batter, letting the excess batter drop off. Dunk it into the flour and roll it around to coat. Gently slide it into the oil, being careful that the coating stays into place. Fry a few pieces at a time, carefully turning it with a slotted spoon until golden.

Cranberry cole slaw
1/2 head of green cabbage, grated
1/2 head of red cabbage, grated
4 carrots, grated
1 apple, chopped
2 tbsp. freshly minced parsley
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup mayo (feel free to add more if you want a little creamier)
1/4 cup applesauce

Mix together in a large bowl and chill.