In case you missed it, there was a big football game on Saturday night.  Packers vs Niners playoff game.  It didn't end the way I wanted it to but lets not go there.  If you have been following my blog you know that I like football and you also might know that my team is the Green Bay Packers.  For Christmas last year my husband gave me an NFL cookbook with menu suggestions and recipes for every team in the league.  It isn't always easy to come up with dinner ideas day after day after day after...well you get it.  So on game day it is nice to just flip to the corresponding page of my cookbook and find inspiration.

On Saturday the recipe for "Fish Fry with Hush Puppies" caught my eye.  I had fish so I was sure I could make it work somehow.  The problem was that the recipe for the fried fish contained buttermilk, cornflake crumbs and all purpose flour and the hush puppies were deep fried lumps of cornmeal batter. I wasn't about  to sabotage my training with one meal regardless who was playing.  I went to work to turn the deep fried fiesta into something more beneficial.  The following is my cleaned up version of a very unhealthy game day feast.

Oven "Fried" Fish with Baked Hush Puppies

Hush Puppies

2 cups Almond meal
1/2 cup Arrowroot starch
3 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/3 cup onion finely chopped
1 jalapeño finely chopped
2 eggs beaten
2/3 cup Almond milk

Fish

1 omega 3 egg
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 1/2 cups Almond Meal
2 Tbsp Arrowroot starch
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 Tbsp paprika
dash of cayenne
1/2 tsp sea salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
2 pounds of wild caught boneless white fish cut into serving size pieces.

Set oven to 425 F.

Start with the hush puppies:
-Blend together the first 4 ingredients
- Mix in the onion
- Beat eggs and almond milk together in a small bowl
- Add egg mixture to dry ingredients stirring until just blended.
- Spoon into muffin tins lined with papers
- Bake until golden (15-20 min.) or until they pass the toothpick test.

For the Fish:
- Beat the egg together with the chicken stock
- Mix the Almond meal with the starch and spices.
- Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towels
- Individually dip fish pieces into egg mixture and then roll in almond meal mixture to coat.
- Place the fish pieces on a parchment lined pan with enough space between for air flow.
- Bake in the oven 15-20 minutes until fish flakes easily with a fork.

I got the hush puppies ready to go in the oven first, then prepped the fish.  Since the cooking time is similar I popped everything into the oven at once.  The hush puppies were done a bit before the fish so I put them in the warming drawer to keep warm until the fish was done.

The book suggested to serve with coleslaw and beans.  My family doesn't like beans and my stomach doesn't either (darn lectins).  Home made coleslaw is a great option however I didn't have any green cabbage so I made up my own salad that ended up tasting somewhat similar to coleslaw.

Cucumber and Red Cabbage Salad:

1 cup thinly sliced red cabbage
1/2 long english cucumber thinly sliced.
2 green onions chopped
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/8 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp Omega 3 mayo
1/2 tbsp dill
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Combine veggies in a salad bowl.
Mix together white vinegar and sea salt and pour over the veggies.
Cover with a handful of ice cubes until ready to serve.
In the mean time mix together the mayo with dill and pepper.
Just before serving, discard ice cubes, pour off any excess liquid and mix in the mayo mixture.

And there you have it.  A much healthier and I think tastier version of a great game day meal.  Now that Green Bay is out of the playoffs, I guess I will watch Randy Moss which means I will have to follow the Niners...I guess that's better than cheering for the Bears.




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