Guilty (and Greasy) Pleasures.

Growing up, save for that tablespoonful of cod liver oil my mum religiously made us take, getting my fill of omega 3 was always a problem with me. Getting me to choke down that spoonful of menacing looking orange cod liver oil was bad enough. I would hold my breath just as my mum would hold the spoon, filled right to the brim with that stuff no less, and gulp it down as quickly as i could. By the way, that nifty little trick works well with any liquidy medication or herbal soup- just hold your breath as long as you can, be brave, take a leap of faith and gulp it all down, you won’t be able to taste anything i promise you. Getting me to eat fish of any kind, other than Mac’s Fillet o’ Fish (which was the only thing i ate from that place and always ordered it as ‘Fish o’ Fillet’ for the longest time by the way) and the faithful old fish and chips now, as you can imagine, was ever harder. Doesn’t matter if it was fried, served with porridge and Marmite, and especially not if it was steamed, i wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole.

Of course, things have changed a bit since those days now that i’m older and hopefully, a little wiser. I now have absolutely no problems getting my fix of the omega 3, what with the frequency GT and i dine at Japanese places. Hurray to no more cod liver oil but one thing’s for sure, cod liver oil or not, i sure love my fish and chips.

I have to admit that before Sunday, i had never deep fried anything. Mental images of all the batter dripping everywhere, oil splattering, pfft. No thanks. I’m not a big fan of stuff deep fried but if i had to have it, better someone else tackling the whole greasy messy business than me

All that changed when i remember a little, totally underutilized, probably hasn’t seen daylight in a couple of years deep fryer my mum has. So i dug deep in our cupboards and found the trusty little thing, plugged it in, poured in a truckload of oil, set the optimal temperature for deep frying and waited patiently for the deep fryer to do its thing..

Well who am i kidding. I waited like a grand total of five minutes, staring hard, trying to figure if the oil was indeed bubbling or it was just my imagination or if the little red light was gonna go off when the oil was heated up the way the light on my waffle maker does when the waffles are ready. In the end, it was all too much work for me, all that figuring it out. So i took a leap of faith and chucked a chunk of batter-coated fish fillet in. And it worked! Everything started sizzling like a little volcano was about to erupt then the batter started to start a pale yellow. By the time i fished (yes, bad pun intended ) it out, i had myself a crispy slab of fish fillet fried to a golden due of perfection. Then of course, i had to repeat the whole song and dance with the rest of the fish fillets and that involved a lot of waiting around but they did finally get all done.

As far as fish and chips goes, these were right up my alley. The shoestring fries, tossed in a splash of olive oil and sprinkled generously with sea salt, were baked till crisp outside and fluffy inside, exactly the way fries should be while the fish fillets were nestled in a light crunchy crust. Dipped in a slightly tangy mayo sauce, this made for one sinful, tasty but oh so satisfying lunch.

And the best part of it all? There was absolutely no mess- no drippings, splattering, whatsoever, thanks to the handy little deep fryer. Cleaning up was such a breeze, all done within fifteen minutes. If only working off those sinful calories were as easy.

Anyway in other news, the sweet Ovenhaven of Epicurean Escapism has passed on the Rockin’ Girl Blogger award to me. Being the computer idiot that i am, i have no idea how to post that nifty little badge up so just click on the link if you wanna see what it looks like. I’m really beyond flattering, considering it’s coming from her- i can often be found drooling over her gorgeous photos of desserts in the early hours of the mornings. Thank you babe, and much thanks to Roberta for coming up with such a cool award. With that, i would love to pass the award on to..

• My darling at FoonSum Kitchen- you inspire me darling, with your passion for life both inside the kitchen and out. And for being my best friend and always allowing me to feel like i’m home every time i talk to you, wherever in the world i am. Love love.
• Daffy of Kitchen Crazy Daffy for her gorgeous photo collages and the fabulous dinner parties she throws, yes in spite of holding down a full time job- she makes it look all so easy.
• Cheryl of She Bakes and She Cooks for her passion for all things food and all the recommendations of good eatries she has so generously shared.
• Michie of Indianized for being one of the first blogs i started reading and for her ever so optimistic outlook on life.

and last but not least..

• Ting of Out of My Mind for being such a trooper and having the cutest little girl.

You babes rock!

Oh by the way, if you haven’t seen the movie Hairspray, you have to see it! I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of raving about the show but it is as good, hell even better, than everyone says. The show has such an infectious positive vibe about it. And the songs, oh the songs, will have you fighting the urge to get grooving throughout the show.

“I can hear the bells
Well don’t ya hear them chime
Can’t you hear my heartbeat keeping perfect time
And all because he..
Touched me
He looked at me and stared, yes he
Bumped me
My heart was unprepared when he
Tapped me
And knocked me off my feet
One little touch
Now my life’s complete..”

What a cute song.

Oh, one last thing, i’ll be heading up to Sydney for a week come Friday so there will probably be nothing new on this site till next weekend or so. But i’ll be back with tons of photos. Keep your fingers crossed for me that the weather there will be perfect- sunny blue skies all day long, please. Till then, have a great week guys

Fish and Chips [adapted from delicious's June '06 issue]

Ingredients
2 whiting fillets, cut into fairly large portions
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
Lemon Wedges, to serve

1 kg red potatoes, unpeeled and scrubbed
Olive oil
Sea salt

1/2 cup good quality mayo
2 tbsp parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp salted baby capers, rinsed and chopped
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 230C. Line 2 baking trays with foil and place them in oven for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cut potatoes into 1.5 cm thick chips. Pat dry, then toss with olive oil and sprinkle sea salt generously. When baking trays are heated, remove from oven, place chips on a single layer. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, flipping chips halfway through.
2. To make fish fillets Sift flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Make a well in the center and whisk in just enough iced water to make a smooth batter. Pour vegetable oil into a deep pan or deep fryer.
3. Dust fish fillets with extra flour and dip into batter. Allow excess to drip off. Oil is ready when a cube of bread dropped in turns golden in 30 seconds. Fry fish for 4-5 minutes till golden brown and crisp.
4. To make caper mayo Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and season to taste
5. Serve immediately before your conscious kicks in. Serves 4