New Recipe: Baked Fish and Chips

Torsten used to live in London and has fond memories of fish and chips, so he was excited about this recipe. Plus we actually both prefer baked French fries to fried ones. The grocery store didn't have cod when we were there, so I used catfish instead, even though that has more points. Also, I forgot to take photos. Sorry! Maybe I'll take some photos the next time I make this recipe and then update this post.

Baked Fish and Chips: Makes 4 servings; 5 WW points per serving

Ingredients:

• 4 sprays olive oil cooking spray
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 8 wedges each [I didn't peel the potatoes because we both like skin-on fries, and also potato skins have a lot of nutrients. Also, there were more than eight wedges per potato.]
• 1/4 tsp table salt, or more to taste (enough for potatoes and fish)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper, or to more taste (enough for potatoes and fish)
• 1/4 cup fat-free skim milk
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 20 oz uncooked cod, four 5 oz fillets
• 4 Tbsp red wine vinegar [This is for dipping, and we used ketchup instead.]

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray.
2. Place potato wedges on one baking sheet and lightly coat with cooking spray; season to taste with salt and pepper. [I didn't use salt but I did use a few other spices, such as paprika and onion powder. In retrospect maybe I shouldn't have seasoned the fries with those things until they were already baked, because the spices got burnt in the oven and turned all black. But they were still tasty.] Bake until golden brown and tender, about 45 minutes.
3. Whisk milk and mustard together in a shallow dish. Place bread crumbs in another shallow dish and put flour in a third shallow dish. [By the way, I didn't measure any of these ingredients exactly. I just put them in bowls for dredging the fish and added more when I ran out.]
4. Season both sides of fish with salt and pepper. Place fish in flour and turn to coat. Place fish in milk mixture and turn to coat. Place fish in bread crumbs and turn to coat.
5. Transfer fish to second prepared baking sheet and lightly coat with cooking spray. Bake fish until fork-tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Serve fish and potato wedges with vinegar on the side.

This dish was so easy to make! It was super fast (I think that's part of why I forgot to take pictures) to prepare, too. The only tough part was waiting for it to bake because the fries took so long and we were very hungry. Also, I'm not good at telling when things are done being baked, and I took the fries out too soon, then had to put them back in. (Impatience might have been a factor in that decision, too.) And it was delicious. The fries were really yummy, and the breading on the fish was flavorful and crispy--it was hard to tell it hadn't actually been fried!

Verdict: The meal was well worth the wait! Another one for the "make again soon" pile.