Super Crunch

I've been sick all weekend so this is more of a "tip" post than any great meal recipe. But hopefully it will be the kind of forehead-smacking tip that works out for you.

Do you ever wonder why your breaded fish or chicken doesn't come out as crispy as you want it to when you make it at home? It's not just because restaurants put beer in their fry batter.

I'm going to tell you a super easy (and obvious) way to fix that problem:

Double bread it!

Flour, egg, panko breadcrumbs, then BACK in the egg, back in the breadcrumbs, and then into a hot pan with oil.

Ignore the mess of grilled zucchini and focus on the fish

I start by seasoning the fish (this one happened to be a massive flounder filet) with salt (and optional pepper), and I add sweet paprika and ground savory to the flour for dusting. 

Shake off the excess flour and dip it into the egg, and then into your breadcrumbs. 

(I prefer both the taste and the texture of panko to traditional bread crumbs. I also add a little grated parmigiano reggiano or pecorino to my breadcrumbs!) 

Allow the bread crumbs to set for a few minutes, and then go for a second dip in your beaten eggs, and then back in the bread crumbs.

In a non-stick pan, use just a little more oil than you would if you were cooking the protein un-breaded, so that there is enough to turn your breading golden-brown, but not so much that it's a soggy mess.

I frequently add more oil to the pan for each batch that I cook.

The resulting crust should be thick and crispy, and totally satisfying for crunch factor.
Good luck!