Homemade Fish Sticks

This is a story about the magical deep freezer we had growing up. The freezer was located in the garage and contained the most wonderful treats a kid could ever eat. It was my father’s deep freezer, his third child after me and my sister and he gave it a lot of TLC. It was always well stocked with the comfort foods that defined my childhood.  The walls were caked with ice crystals and inside was a vast, frozen tundra consisting of boxes of Bagel bites, dozens of cartons of ice cream, stacks of Red Baron Pizza (you know you love it!) and oodles of Gorton’s fish sticks. It was a good life.

Anytime my sister and I felt hungry, we’d go out to the deep freezer, pry open the 50 pound lid and lean deep into the freezer to scrounge up our favorite treats. The magical deep freezer saved our lives in summer time when no parents were home to fix us meals and back then I was a professional at deep freezer cooking.

I’ve always wanted to create a grown-up, healthier version of some of those childhood favorites, namely fish sticks, and when I found a recipe in last month’s Cooking Light magazine, I knew I had to go for it.

Ingredients: (makes four servings)

Adapted from Cooking Light’s Fancy Fish Sticks

1 pound fresh cod

1 Tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

1 cup panko bread crumbs

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 cup flour

1 large egg

1/2 cup beer (optional)

2 Tablespoons milk

cooking spray

For the sauce:

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1 Tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

juice of 1/2 lime

Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Rinse and cut the cod into 1 inch strips. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt.

Whisk the egg, beer, and milk together in a bowl to make an egg wash. Pour the flour in a shallow dish. In a separate shallow dish, mix the panko and 1 Tablespoon Old Bay and 1 teaspoon salt. Dip the fish strips in the egg wash mixture, then into the flour. Next, dip once more into the egg wash and into the panko mixture. Coat well and place onto the greased cookie sheet. Repeat until all the fish strips are coated.

 

Bake fish for 15 minutes, turn once at the halfway point. While the fish is baking, make a sauce. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce (mayo, sour cream, Old Bay, lime juice) and allow to chill until fish sticks are ready to eat.

 

The fish are done when the meat is flaky and the panko is golden brown, like so.

Serve with a wedge of lime and dipping sauce.

 

And with a side of zesty coleslaw (recipe coming soon!)

And who could forget an ice cold beer?

I’ll always love that magical deep freezer, but these beat Gorton’s fish sticks any day.

Other posts you may enjoy:

1. Citrus Fish Tacos with Grapefruit and Avocado Salsa
2. Homemade Falafel
3. Zesty Coconut Shrimp
4. Mushy Peas
5. Super Simple “Pad Thai”

Tagged as: cod, dinner, Fish, fish sticks, food, lunch, old bay seasoning, panko, pescetarian, summer meals