La Quinta, California: Another beautiful day in the desert - 88 degrees. We had the house open all day, really enjoying the sunshine. I caught the momma hummingbird attending to her babies several times.
The kids are coming next week for Passover/Spring Break, and I have already started planning a few meals as food is a bit complicated during Passover. (No flour, bread, etc.) Tonight I made a recipe that was really fun - a sheet pan dinner - from The Candid Appetite, Sheet Pan Fish & Chips. Potato wedges are tossed in spices and roasted for 15 minutes, then fish fingers are coated in more spices, and added to the sheet pan to roast.
It took but a few minutes to prep all the sauces and dredges, which I did early in the afternoon. I did not have lemon pepper, nor dried parsley... and I bought a prepared tartar sauce from a local gourmet grocer (Instacart, of course).
Appetizers were enjoyed on the verandah, poolside, watching the final parade of golfers, finishing up the last holes before heading back to their own patios.
The recipe calls for a 450° oven. The baking sheet was lined with parchment paper. I made a half-recipe of the coating for the potato wedges and used one massive russet (baker) potato.
Again, I made a half-recipe for the breading, using two (frozen, individually-wrapped) cod fillets from Costco. I can't recommend this fish enough. It is wild caught, prepped, and frozen at sea. Each fillet was cut into three fingers, then dusted with four, dipped in egg, and then tossed in a seasoned bread crumb and panko combination. (If I make this during Passover, the flour will become potato starch and the bread crumbs will become matzo meal. It could happen.)
The potatoes were roasted for 15 minutes, then the pan was removed from the oven. The taters were pushed to one half of the sheet pan. The coated fish, drizzled with olive oil, were added to the pan and baked for 7 minutes. The pan was again removed, the fish was turned and returned to roast for an additional 7 minutes.
To compensate for the lack of lemon pepper and dried parsley (I never have these two items in my pantry), I garnished the fish with fresh dill, garnished the potatoes with fresh parsley, and served the meal with lemon wedges A quick salad was made with a wedge of cabbage left-over from St. Paddy's Day - apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar dressed.
Again, we dined outdoors. What a great meal. Great concept. No messy frying! Also, super kudos to Gelson's for a most amazing tartar sauce!
Until my next update, I remain, your fishy correspondent.
Yum, looks so good….. i’ll make this for sure.
Thanks for the tip about the cod from Costco.