Sino-Indian Kentucky Cobbler

Putting liquor stores aside for a moment, there are few stores with a higher figure for (desirable stock/stock) x (variety/average price) than a fishmongers. They do, therefore, take a while to get out of. There are also a lot of status issues. Do I get a small amount of a better fish and be aspirationally cheap or go for the mullet special and hope that I'm regarded as a kind of low cost cognoscenti such as with whitebait or tripe? Today was cobbler fillets, which translates as budget boho.

Cobbler is also known as catfish, which calls for cajun spices. I didn't have any so it became sino-indian with Kentucky skin cobbler. This came about because of Mike Brady Obsessive Disorder. The MBOD is for anything where one success is forever transferred into other inappropriate contexts. The best bit of 1990s Brady Movie is where Mike unveils his plan for a recreation centre which looks just like his home. Hitler, Jimmy Barnes, and Economics Rationalists - all sufferers.

The first spice was ground cumin seeds, which I think is usually part of cajun spices, is certainly part of a lot of Indian dishes, and is good with fish. Out of cayenne pepper so I reached back to an earlier success and used dry roasted for two minutes and crushed szechuan peppercorns. A teaspoon of both went in with half a cup of flour. Fondly remembering how good the crispy chicken was, I added a couple of tablespoons of potato starch (hence the Kentucky Fried skin). Plates are always messy for dusting so I just chuck the flour mix into a freezer bag. The fillets then follow, having been dipped in a beaten egg, and then the bag is given a shake.

Butter in the skillet until getting to brown and then in went the fillets until cooked.

The result was tasty for my wife but perhaps she was being nice or just not biting the hand that feeds her. The mix is worth a try but the peppercorns were quite sweet and so was the cumin which didn't sit well with the egg. Perhaps a dry dusting with the flour mix would have been better. Worth a try though.