by Ronald Collins

Created on: March 31, 2010

I'm aware that many people may not be knowledgeable on the topic of smelt so allow me be act as a diplomat for our little sea-faring friends.  Smelt are very small fish that can be found in both Pacific and Atlantic Oceans as well as fresh water.  Their abundance makes them one of the few fish that fisherman are still allowed to net using dip-nets.  They are an excellent option for a number of reasons.  First of all they are extremely inexpensive, but even more importantly they are abundant so they fall well within my ethics of using sustainable ingredients in my dishes, also, they are small enough to be eaten whole as the bones and tiny organs are so small that they are unnoticeable on the palate.  This dish combines my love for beer-battered anything with my version of pork fat cottage fries which I fell in love with after moving here to Chicago. This dish pairs well with a Mexican or Spanish beer such as Pacifico, or if you can find it an ice-cold Cruzcampo, or Estrella from Spain.  BTW to "blanch" something simply means to par-cook it in simmering liquid for just a few minutes, in this case water with a little salt will do just fine.

Ancho Beer-Battered Smelt with Twice-Fried Garlic Pork Fat Cottage Fries

For the Batter:

1 cup dark beer

1 tablespoon oil

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

1 Tbsp Ancho chile powder

1 cup AP flour

6-10oz vegetable oil

Salt tt

Pepper tt

For the cottage fries:

2# blanched potatoes cut into 1” thick slices

4oz pork fat

4oz clarified butter

2 cloves smashed garlic

Method:

Combine ingredients for batter excluding vegetable oil. Coat smelt and shallow-fry in about an inch of the olive oil in a sauce pan for 2-3 minutes or until golden over medium to medium high heat. Make sure not to fry too many smelt at once as this will bring down the temperature of your oil and ensure that you have soggy beer battered smelt instead of perfectly flaky beer-battered smelt.   For service fry cottage fries in pork fat that has been infused with the garlic, and clarified butter in sauté pan until golden brown, roughly 8 to 15 minutes depending on your stove top.

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