English Fish and Chips - World Eating Challenge

Last week, I promised you all that I really seriously was going to keep cooking the World Cup dishes and hinted that the first recipe would have cod so here it is - Paleo Fish and Chips! This was a recipe I've had in the corners of my brain for some time now so it was fun to finally get around to making it. I was having a little bit of a space case day though so I didn't take pictures until halfway through. You'll have to imagine was all the prep looked like.

Before we get there though, I'd like to present you with... the World Cup Eating Challenge. I figured since the World Cup is done and most of us are going to forget soccer exists for a few years, I can drop Cup from the title. I also really want to try my had at Thai, Indian, and Chinese (to name a few) cuisines and they aren't too great at soccer. Since this blog has a few different types of posts going up, you can recognize one my Global cuisine attempts by looking for World Eating Challenge. I'm going to add that tag to all of the World Cup dishes as well. The nice thing about the new challenge is that there are no limits. I don't have to stress out by needing to make something on a particular day and I can circle back and re-do countries (like Mexico and Greece which I feel like I punted on but oddly is the most popular post from the challenge). You can also look forward to a couple of other challenges I want to work in here. If you watch a lot of cooking shows, some of them may seem familiar!

So how about them fish and chips?

For the "chips," I knew I wanted to go with sweet potato fries. Since the fish was going to be legitimately fried, I figured it would be best to bake these. I use a special little tool call a spiral cutter to make them. It's also how you make zucchini noodles and can do some other slicing. It's super handy and pretty easy to use. Anyways... these went in the oven at 450 for about 20 min (checked on constantly because they burn easily) with some avocado oil and salt.

Next was to prep this fish. I took the easy route here and bought a package of frozen cod fillets. I let them thaw in the fridge a couple of days before using them. 

Next I made my flour mixture. This was tapioca flour, salt, garlic powder, and paprika. I dipped my fish in eggs and then rolled them around in here. I think almond milk would have worked nicely also but we were out so I had to make due. Actually, now that I think about it, the dampness of the fish might have worked out too. I think some experimenting might be due...

I fried the fish in avocado oil. I think I've mentioned it before but vegetable oil is super not paleo. If you want to fry a healthier way, there are plenty of oils that are better for you and have a high heat level. Avocado oil is the most affordable. A big bottle at Costco is $10. Ghee is also a good option but it's more expensive. 

I also wanted something green to go with my dish. Traditional fish and chips doesn't have any sort of vegetable side but it is served with vinegar. I decided to make a twist on that idea and do a vinaigrette with parsley, spinach, vinegar, and lemon. Once that was processed, I threw in heirloom tomato slices and pulsed it a little bit to get those chopped up. It was kind of chimichurri-esque but a little more vinegar-y and it went perfectly on top of the fish. 

The whole thing was really delicious and my only qualm is that I didn't make enough of it. The fish and potatoes were way smaller than I though they were, but oh well, I'll definitely double up next time!!