Fish Sticks and Crinkle Cut Fries

Core Memories

The old grade school cafeteria is certainly where a lot of memories are definitely held when it comes to food. Something boring during the week, but pizza on Fridays was a godsend. Every now and then we’d get a treat like steak fingers and mash potatoes with gravy but another lunch a lot of us liked was the good ole’ fish sticks and Ore-Ida fries. Instead of tartar sauce, we had ketchup as our condiment. Guess it wasn’t in the school budget to afford such a delicacy for grade school kids.

Even as an adult into my early to mid twenties, I would but not very often, buy a nice big bag of Ore-Ida Fries and fish sticks. Nostalgia, what can I say? But this time, I did have it in the budget for tartar sauce and ketchup! I’d pop those frozen goodies onto the same sheet tray, crack open a cherry Coke, wait the allotted time for them to cool before scarfing down what was presumably nothing more than a carb laden mess of fries and what passed as fish from a box.

These days as my culinary skills have increased, I thought why not recreate this dish with my own two hands. It’ll taste better and maybe a little bit healthier. So here we go!

Ingredients

• 2 cups bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of flour (seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper (optional) )
• 1 Wild Alaskan Cod Filet (feel free to use whatever fish your palate enjoys!)
• 1 large Russet potato (figure on 1 potato person if making this for more than one person)
• 1 crinkle cutter (I’m providing a link to the one I used)

Ingredients for the Tartar sauce

• 8 oz of mayo
• 1 tablespoon of dill relish
• 1 tablespoon of fresh dill
• 1/2 lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of capers
• 1 garlic clove grated
• Salt and pepper to taste

What to Do

For the Fries

I used the crinkle cutter to cut off the ends of the potato and then cut into medium size fries. These fries are not meant to be thin. Placed them in a pot with cold water and a splash of vinegar which I then brought up to a boil and cooked them for about 10 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and place on a rack to cool. I heated up canola oil to 350° F and fried for about 6-7 minutes. Allowed them to cool overnight in the freezer and for the final cook, placed them again in the oil and fried for another 6-7 minutes or until golden brown which I seasoned with Lawry’s seasoned salt and thyme.

For the Fish Sticks

I cut the filet into pieces thicker than 3/8 inch. Coated them in the seasoned flour, egg mixture and finally into the bread crumbs, making sure to pat down and all sides were properly coated. Placed them in the 350°F canola oil for about 3-5 minutes or until golden brown with an internal temperature of 145°F

For the tartar sauce

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and salt and pepper to taste

The Cool Down

The difficult part of making such a dish is waiting for the food to cool down. And when you’re hungry and chomping at the bit, I start to feel like I’m about 10 years old again in the school cafeteria waiting patiently in line for my tray to be filled, a milk carton handed to me and negotiating a place to sit amongst my peers.

Thankfully this time, it’s just me in the kitchen with my cat, Maximus, peering from the countertop hoping to get a nibble.

Enjoy!