Banana bread

An excerpt from ​https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/best-banana-bread-recipe/

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Ingredients 

• 1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
  
• 3 Large ripe bananas 
  
• 2 Large eggs
  
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  
• 2 Cups all purpose flour 
  
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• 1 Cup granulated sugar 
  
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda or 1/3 cup club soda
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
  
• Optional pecan or walnuts 
  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter and set aside.
   
2. Add the stick of butter to a large bowl and microwave for 1 minute, or until melted.
   
3. Add the bananas to the same bowl and mash with a fork.
   
4. Add the vanilla extract and egg to the bowl and use the same fork to mash and stir until no yellow streaks of egg remain.
   
5. In a second large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
   
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together with a spatula just until combined.
   
7. Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

Best Traditional Fish and Chips

What we know as fish and chips today originated in England but its earliest origins can be traced back to Sephardic Jewish immigrants from Spain and Portugal. ~ Kimberly Killebrew

Excerpt from Feast & Merriment

​Ingredients 

• 3 pounds Russet potatoes about 4 large potatoes.

• 3 quarts canola oil for frying plus 1/4 additional cup

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup cornstarch

• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

• ½ teaspoon paprika

• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 3 tsp Diamond kosher salt

• 2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 ½ – 2 pounds 1-inch-thick cod fillet or other thick white fish, such as hake or haddock cut into approximately 3-ounce pieces. (Thoroughly dry fish with paper towels)

• up to 3 cups beer 24 ounces, cold. (Any beer will work in this recipe, even nonalcoholic beer with the exception of dark stouts and ales.)

INSTRUCTIONS

 
1. Prep the fishSlice fish into your preferred size portions. I like smaller pieces, about 2 ounces per piece, but sometimes you need to follow the natural cuts of the filet. You want portions that are evenly sized as much as possible. Pat dry with paper towel and set aside in the refrigerator.
2. Prep the potatoesPeel the potatoes and slice off the “top & tail” to square off the ends of the potato and discard. Cut each potatoes lengthwise into 1/2 inch fries. Add potato pieces into a water bath for about 30 minutes.
Remove from water and pat dry with paper towel.
3. Fry the Potatoes

In heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (about 7 quart capacity), heat TWO of the three quarts oil over medium heat to 350°F. Pro Tip: Use an Oil safe Probe to monitor and control temperature for perfect results. Add fries to hot oil and increase heat to high. Fry, stirring with mesh spider or slotted metal spoon, until potatoes turn light golden and just begin to brown at corners, 6 to 8 minutes.

Transfer fries to paper towels to drain.
4. Set up the dredging stationWhisk the flour, cornstarch, cayenne, paprika, pepper, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Remove 1.5 of a cup of the flour mixture and add it to a casserole dish and set this flour & dish aside.
Go back to the flour mixture that remains in the bowl and add baking powder. Whisk to combine.
Add 1.5 cups beer to the flour mixture in the mixing bowl and stir until mixture is just combined (batter will be lumpy). Add remaining beer as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition, until batter falls from whisk in thin, steady stream and leaves faint trail across surface of batter.
5. Dredge & fry the fishWith the fries done, increase the heat of the oil to medium-high, add remaining quart of oil if necessary and heat oil to 375°F. Meanwhile, thoroughly dry fish with paper towels. Dredge each piece of fish in the flour mixture shaking off excess flour. Dip 1 piece of fish in batter at a time and let excess run off, shaking gently. Place battered fish back into the casserole dish, or what ever dish you are using, with the flour mixture and turn to coat both sides.
Add each piece directly to hot oil if or, if you choose, keep pieces in single layer on baking sheet and repeat until all pieces are coated. It’s best to do it in batches if working alone, just be careful not to let it sit too long to avoid the batter sticking to the sheet pan.
As you add the fish, you will likely need to adjust the heat to keep it maintained at 375-385°F. Not adjusting your temperature to maintain oil temperature when frying is a common, and costly, mistake. The fish will not crisp up. But make it too high, and everything will burn. Use an oil safe thermometer for best results.
Fry the fish, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes depending on thickness. Use a kitchen spider to remove fish from hot oil and transfer fish to a sheet pan lined with a gridded cooling rack. Never walk away from the kitchen when frying the fish. 
If you are unsure about the doneness, remove one piece of fish and use an instant read thermometer to test for a minimum of 145° F.
Serve fish & chips with traditional malt vinegar and tartar sauce.

Gefilte fish

An excerpt from Jennifer Bushman’s kitchen 

​Ingredients

• 5 pounds whole fish such as sucker fish, carp, or pike, filleted and skinned (reserve head, bones, skin, and trimmings for stock)
• 4 quarts water
• 3 medium-size (8 ounces each) yellow onions, quartered, divided
• 4 medium (9 ounces total) carrots, quartered crosswise (16 pieces total), divided
• 3 medium (3 ounce total) celery stalks, halved crosswise
• 1 cup loosely-packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, stems reserved, divided
• 2 fresh or dried bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup (about 1 ½ ounces) matzo meal
• ¼ cup thinly sliced fresh chives, plus more for garnish
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
• Beet horseradish 

Directions

Cut fillets into 2-inch pieces. Attach a metal food grinder attachment with coarse grinding plate (8-millimeter) to a stand mixer. Position mixer bowl under attachment. Set mixer speed to medium-low, and grind fish. (Alternatively, pulse fish in a food processor, working in small batches, until finely chopped, about 8 pulses.) Cover ground fish in mixer bowl, and refrigerate while making the stock.

Place reserved whitefish head, bones, skin, and trimmings in a large stockpot. Add water, 2 of the quartered onions, half of the carrots, ½ cup of the parsley leaves and all of the stems, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Bring to a gentle boil over medium. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the stock is reduced by half, skimming the surface occasionally to remove and discard impurities, about 1 hour. Place a fine mesh strainer over a large heatproof bowl. Carefully pour fish stock through strainer into bowl; discard solids. Transfer stock to a 12-inch straight-sided skillet; season to taste with salt.

While stock is simmering, place 4 of the carrot pieces, remaining 1 quartered onion, and remaining ½ cup parsley leaves in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped, 8 to 10 pulses, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. Add pulsed onion mixture, eggs, matzo meal, sliced chives, chopped dill, and salt to the ground fish; stir together using your hands until mixture comes together and is well-combined. Divide mixture evenly into 12 (4-ounce) balls; shape into oval patties about 4-inches long and 1½ to 2-inches thick. Place patties on a plate, and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Add remaining 4 carrot pieces to strained fish stock in skillet. Bring to a simmer over low and adjust heat to maintain a temperature of 180°F. Working in about 3 batches, add fish patties to simmering stock and simmer, gently turning patties occasionally to ensure they don’t stick to bottom of skillet, until patties are cooked through and a thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of patties registers 140°F, about 15 minutes per batch. Transfer cooked patties to a plate.

Remove carrot pieces from skillet; let stand until cool enough to handle, about 3 minutes. Thinly slice carrot pieces crosswise; add to plate with patties. Cover patties and carrots loosely with plastic wrap, and chill until cold, for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours.

Top each patty with a few slices of carrot, and garnish with fresh dill fronds and chives. Serve gefilte fish cold with beet horseradish.