Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Host family gets to know our fiery personalities...


We've been living with the Bergs since Saturday night and thought it would be a nice gesture to make dinner for them tonight. So after some discussion, the menu we decided on was beer battered fish and chips. We've successfully made the fish two times prior and were trying the chips for the first time (homemade- not out of the bag). The problem is, you get used to your own kitchen tools and accessories; it can be a little challenging to cook in someone else's kitchen. Dinner was well on it's way. The first batch of fish and fries had come out of the pot and we were onto the next batch. The burner got a little too hot apparently, and the oil started boiling over. Fortunately it's an electric stove so it didn't start a fire. However, a few minutes later the smoke appeared. First it was just a harmless white, then it turned grey, followed by black, and suddenly flames were shooting out from under the pot. Tom put the lid to the pot over the burner and left it there for a while. Eventually the flame extinguished itself. We smoked up the kitchen something fierce. But nothing a box fan and an open window couldn't eventually remedy. Was it worth it? Was dinner so delicious that they forgave us for lighting their kitchen on fire? They claim it was.

8 comments:

the lambs said...

That can be chapter 24 in your book. =)

Jillayne said...

My mom told me about this today! That is hilarious!! ...that's a pretty good picture of my dad, too! ;)

Russ and Karla Patterson said...

It is known around here if the smoke alarm goes off then dinner is ready!

Your story is hilarious! So glad it all went well in the long run!

You should share the recipe for this dinner since everyone thought it was worth a smoky house! ;-)

Karla & Russ CWC

TheGaffords said...

Good idea, Karla!

Beer Battered Fish:
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup beer (light beer seems better)
1 egg ( I never use eggs, seems to make the batter too thick but you can try it).

For the chips, we followed Emeril's instructions here, but the fish recipe looks good, too.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/fish-and-chips-recipe2/index.html

Good luck, and keep your fire extinguisher handy!

the lambs said...

We'll have to try it. Will you share the white sauce recipe too? =)

TheGaffords said...

Julie, are you referring to tartar sauce? We just used a bottle from the store for that.

the lambs said...

At Rubio's you or David said that you made a white sauce out of mayo and yogurt, or something like that. Whatever the Rubio's sauce is. It's not regular tartar sauce from a bottle. =)

TheGaffords said...

Ohhhhh! That white sauce! We didn't eat the fish in tacos this time, so I wasn't in that mind set. I think it was like 1/2 c. plain yogurt, 1/2 c. mayo, and a tsp. or so of sugar (we use splenda). Something like that. We may have squeezed some lemon or lime juice into it as well. Unfortunately, it wasn't one we actually had a recipe for. You just tweek it until it tastes good:-)