sometimes it just doesn't work....

[mike_c]

AARRGGHH! I've been thinking about fish and chips for WEEKS, but most of the local choices are brew-pubs, and frankly none of them does a good job, especially with the potatoes. So I sliced up a halibut fillet tonight, made a tartar sauce, battered the slices up, and deep fried 'em. It was edible. Barely. Ok, it genuinely wasn't bad-- the batter was crispy, the fish moist and flaky, and the homemade tartar sauce was good. But it wasn't what I was really jonesin' for, and now the whole house smells like fried fish. And dammit, the potatoes were limp, and I KNOW HOW TO DO CHIPS!

Sigh. Sometimes it just doesn't work.

[NMDemDist2]

1. i hate when that happens

:pals:

and besides you need Malt Vinegar for fish and chips eh? that musta been what went wrong!

BTW I made fish the other night and asked dear Mr. Ketchup if he wanted tartar sauce or cocktail sauce with it and he said "We don't have any tartar sauce" and I said "Sure we do, I've been making the tartar sauce for the last year" and he says "You did? you can?? WOW"

dear Mr Ketchup just doesn't get it :rofl:

[mike_c]

2. MALT VINEGAR! I DIDN'T MENTION THE VINEGAR....

I like malt vinegar on my chips, but I didn't have any, so I bought a bottle-- drove to town SPECIFICALLY to buy a bottle of malt vinegar-- and it tasted like paint thinner. Worst vinegar I have ever tasted. Luckily I put it in a bowl and dipped my chips rather than sprinkling it over, otherwise they'd have been utterly ruined. How the hell does anyone mess up vinegar?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

3. Why is it ..........

...... that when one part of a project goes wrong, the whole damn thing flies at the speed of light right down the crapper.

OK, this is nothing but a sign from the universe, mike, telling you that fish and chips are pub food, and, even if you don't think they're so hot, you'd best get your butt to a local tavern and partake of the substandard fare there, just to make sure you don't cause a rip in the existential veil that keeps us all safe from that damn parallel universe where there is no good malt vinegar.

Now I'm hungry for fish and chips. Wrapped in newspaper. With the good vinegar.

Or maybe a hamburger.

Damn.

Key lime pie would be good, too.....

[NMDemDist2]

4. yup, dude. the stars were all wrong for that meal tonight it seems

better luck next time you give it a shot or at least take OLLawyer's advice and just go down to the tavern

remember F & Cs are best eaten while half drunk (or better) and perhaps the reality can't just live up to the ale induced fantasy

:shrug:

and how the hell CAN you screw up vinegar?? that's pretty darned weak for sure

[troubleinwinter]

13. Recipe! I demand recipe! The store stuff sux.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Mike, go gitchya a copy of the June Cooks Illustrated

They had a good article on Fish n' Chips.

There was an Arthur Treachers Fish n' Chips place on Rt 1 in Alexandria, south of the Beltway that I used to stop in when I was a-courtin' Sparkly. That was not bad at all for a chain. It came as close as anything to the genyoowine stuff I usta get in Toronto when I was commuting up there once a month ... or the genyoowine place run by real englishfolk in my childhood neighborhood.

Ya hadda bring this up, didn't ya?

[mike_c]

6. LOL-- yeah, that was the article that pushed me over the edge...

Although I thought their batter was a bit too much. I mean, baking powder! CI tends to make things a bit too complicated, IMO, although it's great fun to read. You see the summer grilling issue yet? It's pretty good.

I lived in the DC area years ago (ok, decades ago) and used to eat at Arthur Treachers too. They really had the mouth feel down right, at least for the time. I don't think there was anything like them in the U.S., but they spawned a whole raft of Cap'n this and Cap'n that fried fish franchises, none of which seem to be in business any longer (or maybe just not out here).

on edit-- the london broil article in that same CI reved up another hankering, too....

[Stinky The Clown]

7. "You see the summer grilling issue yet?"

I just got a copy on Saturday! I made the scallops already. Our soopermarket had the most gorgeous, untreated, never frozen scallops. We made them last night and they were out of this world.

You're very right about he copycat fish chains. None could touch Threachers. I think they're all gone now. Last time we were down that part of Rt 1 I didn't see the Treachers ... but its been a while since I went there, so maybe I missed it.

I'm gonna try that fish and chips too. I have a deep fryer that's prety good, so who knows. If I can get the fish right, I'll be happy. The fries ..... okay if I get them, but I'd be happy if just the fish turns out okay.

[grasswire]

9. and if you don't get them right....

....go on a road trip to Manchester NH and stop at a little place on Daniel Webster Highway called the Lobster Shack or Lobster Hut and order the fried haddock. It's the most delicious fried fish I ever had.

[Warpy]

8. The twice a year I get a wild craving for real fish & chips

I just go to one of the chains that specialize in the fare. There are two out there that aren't too awful. It's not the same as what I'd get at fish & chips places back in Boston, but it does enough to satisfy that wild hair I get. You're right, though, the malt vinegar in the shop is not quite the same as the stuff they sell in the bottle on premises.

Most of the time at home when I get a fresh fillet that can be fried, I'll do the egg and flour bit, then roll it in seasoned panko. It's not fish & chips fish, but it's good enough that I can occasionally deflect that urge for corporate grease.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. I found an open and functioning Arthur Treachers today!!!!

It is in the rest area on I95 in Delaware (the only one). We were on our way to a going away get together for my cousin and his family tha, for us, was a sort of family reunion. We packed the whole gaggle into the family bus and set out on the highway. Whenever I go up that way on 95, I stop at this rest area for some frozen yogurt. Its just an old and largely stupid tradition (don't ask).

So, with my mouth all atwitter at the ideas of it, we stop. We go in. Gack! The Columbo's Yogurt stall in the food court has been replaced with .... gack gack gack ..... a Starbucks.

Seems they've changed all the vendors except for the Roy Rogers burgerjoint. But .....

My eyes go all wide and buggy.

Over there.

In space shared with KFC ......

Arthur

TREACHER!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunatel;y, we had eaten not long before and Sparkly and my oldest son threatened me with bodily harm if I waddled over for .... you know .... just a taste.

I mean ..... damn ..... I could smell it. I could see people blub-blub-blubbing malt vinegar on those golden spears of fish and batter and ..... frying fat.

I was led by the hand to the Roy Rogers for their generic yogurt. Choclate/vanilla twist.

I averted my eyes from the Treacher Alter as we left.

Its a bit over an hour from here to there ...... and I now, after this thread, have a ***serious*** jones for that fish.

I mean ....... a *****serious***** jones.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

11. It gets better

http://www.arthurtreachers.com/locations.htm

There's one just about fifteen minutes from us here in Alexandria, and I wonder if their fare is as damn good as it used to be.

AT's RULED!

OK, guess where I'm going tomorrow in the 91-degree heat.....................

[Stinky The Clown]

12. OLL ... I owe ya, kiddo. Big time!

The one I used to go to, on Rt 1, is still there.

Another over in Fairfax ...... but ......

There's one even closer to me. In Silver Spring!

Hotchacha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OLL ....... ?

C'mere.

****smoooooooch*****

[OldLeftieLawyer]

14. :::::: eeeeeeeeeeeeek :::::::::::::::

(I'll be at the Richmond Highway AT's manana)