Overheard in my kitchen last night as we prepared Imbolc dinner: “You get a prize in every can!”

Care discovered the ‘ping-pong’ ball inside the Guinness. It’s actually called a widget, and has something to do with the can and the gases and the head…or some such. I wasn’t paying attention. All I know is it was funny as hell when she was watching the bubbles flow down the glass instead of up, while listening to the ball bounce around in the empty can… She seems to like the flavor of Guinness, where as Rhia puckered up and squinched her face ’til it was half it’s normal size. Obviously she’ll take after the non-Irish/English parts of her, and drink more ‘sophisticated’ alcohol. (and I say pfffft….)

But I digress….

After much hemming and hawing, Rhia and I finally decided on traditional fish & chips for our Imbolc celebration dinner. I’d pored over I don’t know how many suggestions, and we’d been leaning towards corned beef and cabbage… I think everyone was rather relieved when we settled on something a little more tasty and a tiny little bit less smelly.

I dug out a proper batter recipe, crossed my fingers all the way to our little store that they’d have something resembling fillets rather than pre-battered minced mystery fish. Okay, I admit – I was also crossing my fingers that the other store had at least a bottle of stout in the cooler, if not proper Guinness. I was in luck, both places: frozen Highliner Sole fillets at the grocery store, and cans of Guinness at the variety store. Score!

I actually bought two packages of fish as I’ve never bought frozen sole like that before, and wasn’t sure if there were more than two in the package. Turns out, it’s young sole and there was plenty in one package to feed three people. Plenty… there should have been left-overs but we love our fish. Anyway, as I’d thawed both packages, we’re having fish again tonight..lol.

Usually we leave the skins on the potatoes when we’re making chips, but these had slid past the best by date, and there were little spindlies growing out of the eyes, so I peeled ‘em, then cut them into sixths lengthwise; two medium-sized Russet potatoes for each of us.

Once the fish was beginning to thaw, I set the block into warm water to wash and peel apart the fillets at the same time. Fumble-fingered that I am, I managed to tear two of them in half while I was at it, but oh well, they still tasted the same.

Rhia set the oven to 200* to keep the fries warm once they were out of the fryer, and I set up the fryer (375*) and started preparing the batter.

Guinness Beer Battered Fish & Chips

Ingredients:

2 lbs fish (sole, haddock or cod)
1 can Guinness Draught
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (less or more, to taste)
cornstarch (for dredging)
6 medium potatoes

Directions:

Wash and slice potatoes lengthwise, set in cold water for half to one hour. Rinse, then begin frying small handfuls at a time, until golden browned. Drain on paper towel, transfer to baking sheet and set in oven to keep warm. Remove the basket from the fryer to do the fish. The batter will make a mess of the basket and cause your fish to stick and burn, believe me!

Blend the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a bowl. Slowly pour in the full can of Guinness, and whisk until smooth. Rinse the fillets, and pat dry, then dredge in cornstarch. Dip into the beer batter, letting it drip off for a moment before setting it into the oil, carefully. As it cooks, it will rise to the surface (pretty quickly, actually). After a moment or two, use fryer tongs to turn it over. Fillets are cooked when both sides are a nice, golden brown. Drain on paper towels, and transfer to baking sheet to keep warm in the oven.

Depending on the size of the fillets and the size of the fryer, you can do up to two fillets at once, but I wouldn’t do any more than that.

Serve with tartar sauce, lemon wedges and peas. (HA! no peas here…)

Below, I’ve put in a traditional tartar sauce recipe. We’re not so fancy here at home – we use either Kraft (much preferred!) or Heinz, from a bottle. ‘Cuz I’m just that lazy…

Traditional English Tartar Sauce

Ingredients:

8 oz mayonnaise
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chopped gherkin pickles
1 tbsp chopped capers
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper

Directions:

Stir together mayonnaise and lemon juice in a small bowl. Gherkins, capers, chives and parsley should be chopped very fine, then blended into the mayo mixture, with the salt and pepper to taste.

The flavors are better if this is made the night before and allowed to sit, covered, in the fridge for 24 hours, but it can be used right away.