Fish and Chips

I rarely eat fried food, I'm talking like maybe 2x's a year, but this recipe tastes so dang good when I do make it and it just brings back so many memories of eating fish and chips in the pubs in England.

First make the chips by cutting 4 potatoes into thick wedges.
Pour about 2 inches of canola oil into a thick bottomed pan over high heat. Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 300 degrees to keep chips warm while frying. When oil starts looking spidery, throw in potatoes in small batches. Fry until golden brown. If oil gets too hot and starts smoking, turn your heat down to medium. Remove potatoes and place on a paper towel for a minute to dry then transfer to cookie sheet in oven to keep warm. Fry rest of the potatoes until they are all done. Salt and pepper all chips and keep warm in oven. I use Lawry's seasoned salt, but regular salt is fine too.

Next make fish batter by mixing all ingredients in medium sized bowl.
-1 cup beer
-1 cup flour
-2 eggs
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp pepper

Cut large fish pieces in half so you still have good sized chunks of fish. I used orange roughy and we love that. If you are feeling rich use halibut. I have also used tilapia but I like thicker, meatier white fish better. Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels. One by one, dip fish pieces completely in batter and then place in fry oil. Fry about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown, turning them over once. Transfer fried pieces onto same pan in oven to stay warm. Sprinkle each fried fish fillet with course sea salt. Meanwhile chop thick rings of onions and dip them in same batter. When all the fish is fried, add onions to fry oil and fry till golden brown turning once. Serve immediately or keep in oven so they don't get soggy and cold.

Tartar sauce (this is Ina Garten's recipe and I love it)

-1/2 cup mayonnaise
-2 Tbsp chopped dill pickles
-1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
-1 Tbsp capers
-1 tsp course ground mustard
-pinch salt and pepper
add all ingredients to food processor and pulse till slightly chunky put blended

Serve fish, chips and onion rings with tartar sauce and malt vinegar. Enjoy!!

FINALLY!! Chicken tortilla soup that tastes like Cafe Rio

I LOVE Cafe Rio chicken tortilla soup and I have found some really yummy tortilla soup recipes that I really like, but none of them taste like Cafe Rio's. I decided to try this recipe in my Food Network magazine although I have to admit I was skeptical. I was wrong!! It tastes just like Cafe Rio's and it is amazing!! Not to mention super easy.

Puree in blender or food processor
-2 seeded, soaked ancho chilies (I could not find these but I looked up online and they are very similar to Poblano peppers so I used one really big fresh poblano)
-1 onion
-2 tomatoes (I used Roma)
-2 cloves garlic
Just rough chop all these ingredients then put in blender or processor and puree until smooth

In soup pot cover bottom of pot with olive oil or other kind of oil. Heat over med-high. Add puree to oil and fry for a minute or two.
Then add
-6 cups chicken broth
-4 torn corn tortillas. Tear them into about quarter size pieces.
-1/2 cup cilantro
-some shredded cooked chicken, or I just threw in about 6 frozen chicken cutlets and let them cook in the soup, less work!

Simmer until thick, about 1 1/2 hours. Less if you use cooked chicken. Add salt to taste, I added about 1 TBSP.

Serve with lime wedges, chopped avacados, cilantro, tortilla strips, and mexican cheese (queso fresco). I squeezed 1/4 lime into each bowl of soup and it was perfect.

ENJOY!! So yummy!