Nick Rabar – (00:09) Rhode Island is home to some of the best seafood on the planet.
While we all know our waters are bursting with fresh, sustainable seafood, one thing you may not know is how much I personally love to fish. I’ve had the privilege of enjoying our waters to the fullest including clamming on Grade Island, striper fishing off the block, oyster farming on Potter’s pond, and even spend my time freshwater fishing on the weekends.
NR – (0:33) – Seafood is the first language for us here in Rhode Island. So I thought I’d prepare a classic today, but of course, done that Keep on Cookin way and that’s crispy fish fritters.
In Rhode Island, it’s traditional to head down to the shore for some chowder and clam cakes. In my family it signifies summer and it’s something special every single year. That’s why we’re making this staple here today except it’s going to be something new and unique. So let’s get to it. So fritters or clam cakes are generally made from all-purpose flour, and that’s how we’re gonna get started here today. I have some well sifted all-purpose flour. Now we’re going to add some baking powder. Baking powder is critical in this dish because that’s what’s gonna make this all-purpose flour in this batter light and fluffy.
NR – (1:17) Now we’re gonna put a little bit of seasoning in here. So we’re gonna go in with some kosher salt, and some paprika as well. Now we’ve got to go with some wet ingredients. So we’re gonna start off with an egg. And then we’re gonna go in with some fish broth. Gotta go in with a couple of shots of Tabasco that’s going to add some spice, also a little bit of acidity from the vinegar, but nothing adds acidity quite like a lemon. Let’s go in with a touch of lemon. Now let’s give it a whisk. So that’s what you want to see right there. You want batter that tries to hide inside the whisk, but still comes out when you want it to.
NR – (1:59) Now we’ve got all these other fabulous ingredients in here to go into these fish fritters, but of course you got to start off with a little bit of fish. I have some cod here in cod is a nice, neutral mild white fish. Now it’s time to put this into that batter. So you want fish fritters that tastes like fish but adding a few of these fabulous ingredients are going to add so much more depth. So I’m going to start off with some jalapeno peppers, just everything super small diced and a little bit of red onion. So not too much red onion because they were going in with raw red onion, but a little bit is going to enhance it. Some chopped red bell pepper, one ingredient that goes perfect with clam cakes, lobster cakes, fish fitters, anything along those lines is corn. And I’m going to add about a quarter cup. I’m gonna go with some chopped parsley. And that is it. We have this beautiful little batter here that’s ready to rumble and we’re going to mix it up, scooping from the bottom so that our fish cakes have a little bit of everything in each bite.
NR – (3:09) And now through the magic of television, let’s bring in some hot oil. Well, that worked out well. So we’ve got this ice cream scoop and you want to fill it about three-quarters of the way for this is a great tool for making consistent size fish cakes. If you don’t have it, a spoon works just fine. We’re frying it at about 325 degrees. Now that is ideal. What it’s going to do is it’s going to make the outside crispy but it’s going to cook everything all the way through. I think you want about six minutes on these and look at how beautiful they are. Now if that’s not Rhode Island, I don’t know what is. Even though we’re deep fat frying, that does not mean that it needs to be greasy at all. Deep fat fried foods can be very, very dry on the outside, very crispy and light and fluffy all the way through like a donut. Now once that comes out, you’re going to want to season with a little bit of kosher salt. And now we’ve got to plate them up. I’m going to serve them with some tartar sauce that I made from mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, chop pickles, parsley, and I added a little bit of Tabasco, just to make it a spicy tartar sauce. And I’m going to hit this plate with these gorgeous crispy, light delicate fish fritters that are so beautiful that they’re making me lose my concentration. Couple of lemons outside of Tabasco. Oh, there’s a Rhode Island fish fritters everybody. So these came out pretty great and you guys are pretty great for joining me thanks as always for doing so. And until we meet again. Keep on Cookin.
Wines & More – Perfect Pairing
Jeremy Christie – Wines & More (04:54) Hi, my name is Jeremy Christie. I’m a wine consultant here at Wines and more in Cranston Rhode Island. I’m a certified sommelier and the occasional backyard bartender. Normally when we’re doing pairings with Chef Nick’s foods, we pair it with wine, but today we’re going to do something just a little bit different. So in this recipe, I’m combining two classic cocktails. I’m basically taking the mule ingredients, and then the mojito ingredients and kind of mashing them together to create who knows mule-hido. Mojito means little wet one, so maybe we’ll call it the wet dog. I don’t know, it doesn’t really matter. So anyway, we’re gonna start with our key ingredients, which is Mints are going to take a little mint, and pop it like that, drop it in the glass and take the juice of half of lime. You can squeeze this any way you can. But we’re going to drop that right in there like that. And then we’re going to do two bar spoons or teaspoons of simple syrup, which is part of the mojito recipe. And then I’m going to use our amazing Grays Peak vodkas. Today, I’m using the bass vodka as well as the botanicals. One is lime, hibiscus and ginger and the other one is grapefruit, chamomile, and cardamom. So I’m going to do an ounce of each vodka, so three ounces total. So we’re gonna start with the straight up regular vodka. And then we’re gonna move into the two botanical vodkas, these are going to add a cool kind of flair to the drink that isn’t normally part of the cocktail. Normally you’re using just rum or vodka. So in using all these botanicals, and then topping it off with some awesome ginger beer, we’re going to just create one really cool cocktail. Next, we’re going to add just a little bit of ice from our cocktail glass. And then give it a good shake before we add the ginger beer. The reason we’re taking it this way, just because basically if you drop that ginger beer in there too soon, you’re gonna have a big ol mess on your hands. So now we’ve got all the ingredients are gonna pour it over the ice like that. And then we’re gonna take ginger beer today I’m using a Fever Tree Ginger Beer, which I think is my ginger beer of choice. Drop that in there. We’ve already got your kind of garnish built in there with the mint. You can throw a little lime wedge on there if you want as well. I put this in a mason jar because that’s where all the cool kids are mixing in these days. All day. I tell you, that’s a great little cocktail. So come down to a Wines more in Cranston come get all the ingredients and you can have this poolside with me this weekend Cheers & Salud.
