My Secret to Perfect Fried Fish...

As it turned out, we were NOT the coldest place on the planet yesterday.  Altho we got down to 20 BELOW zero...Nancy Harp sent me a picture of the Aurora temp -- and it was a legit -37.  Ugh...

But, it was too cold to go outside of the house...so we hunkered down.  Cal and Jeanne came over for a late lunch.

Cal's favorite thing is fried fish. Lucky for us, Ronda's husband Dean is the Iowa-World-Champion-Fisherman (a title I just made up)...and he catches WAY more fish than one family can possibly eat. To make way in the freezer for his NEW BATCHES, Dean often gives us his PREVIOUS BATCHES...

Our menu was simple:

• Fried Fish
• Dad's Army Potatoes
• Kathy's Perfect Coleslaw

Each one of these dishes is SPECTACULAR...and each dish has it's own tips or techniques...or history. 

I'll start with the fried fish.  Of course, the first order of business is how the fish was cleaned, wrapped and frozen.  Dean (who is a retired health food inspector) is a world-class fish cleaner.  He can filet six catfish in the time it takes to turn the page in a book.  HE IS LIGHTENING FAST...and you will never find a bone or a bit of unwanted skin.  Then, he double wraps them -- first in a saran wrap film, then in freezer paper.

I thawed out several packages of filleted fish...then, the second most important thing is breading the fish.

I LOVE my Cajun Batter Bowl. This is one of the best kitchen specialty items I own. I cannot imagine making a big batch of fish without it. IT TAKES THE MESS OUT OF THIS JOB...and once you've used one of these -- you will never be able to go back.

Many people have secret ingredients in their fish breading mix. Me, too.  Here it is:

1 part Shake and Bake

1 part dried bread crumbs

1 part flour

Another old-fashioned product I'd like to give a nod to -- WAXED PAPER. I love, love, love wax paper.  For one thing, it takes me back to my childhood.  Mom packed lunches every night for six kids...and that meant a lot of sandwiches in neatly wrapped wax paper packages. I use it a lot...

At Christmas time, Lilly and Warren lined their cookie tins with waxed paper...and they cut circles to put on the top of each tin...

The last important tool for frying fish is, of course, the frying pan. This beautiful round Faberware electric frying pan is at least 50 years old...it's set up on my kitchen griddle all the time...and it keeps the PERFECT TEMPERATURE (375 degrees). They just don't make them like this any more.

Two minutes on each side...PERFECTION..!!

Drain on paper towels...OMG...sooo delicious...