The 2012 London Olympics are drawing to a close and I can’t help but wonder: how many servings of Britain’s fast food, fish and chips, have been sold over the course of the games? With yearly fish and chips consumption hovering around 250 million servings something tells me hectic visitors have doused more than a splash of vinegar or curry sauce on their battered cod, salted more than a few chips and left heaping sides of mushy peas to the Brits.
One day I hope to stand on the rainy streets of London eating battered fried fish and chips (steak fries) but in the meantime here’s my version of the British institution, garden-style.

Fish and Chips
Ingredients:
2-3 medium yellow squash cut in bite-size pieces
2-3 medium zucchini cut in bite-size pieces
2 leeks, white and light green part only, cut in half lengthwise and sliced thin. It’s easier to wash leeks after slicing
Half to whole pack of matchstick carrots
2 ears of corn, cut kernels off the cob
2 T. olive oil
1 large tomato cut into bite-size pieces
4 tilapia or snapper fillets (thaw frozen or use fresh)
1 cup crushed potato chips
Half-cup grated Parmesan
Half t. paprika
One-fourth t. cayenne
2 T. unsalted butter, melted
No salt is necessary on the veggies the potato chips season them more than enough.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450*
Combine first six ingredients and place in a glass casserole dish. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes, remove and top with tomato. Arrange fish on top of veggie mixture. Combine the remaining ingredients and divide evenly over each fillet. Bake 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the fillets. The veggies will steam the fish; you don’t want to overcook it. Vegetables should be a little crunchy and the fish should be moist and tender with a crispy crust. Watch it close and you can’t miss. This recipe lends itself to adding more veggies and fish very easily.
Best of the Best
Local Farm-fresh Foods:
madison.locallygrown.net, Order local farm-fresh foods online and pick them up from 4-6 p.m. on Wednesday in front of Godfreys Feed on Jefferson. For an extra $5 delivery is available for customers in and close to Madison!
Madison Produce Company, East Washington Street, Madison; 706-342-1908

TV:
2012 London Olympics Closing Ceremony, Sunday, Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. EST on NBC

Website:
http://www.fishandchipawards.com/news/ – Just for fun, this site lists the who’s who of fish and chip restaurants.

Cathy Best discovers new things daily. Contact her to share local resources, books, blogs, Web sites and apps you’ve discovered: bestdiscovery@aol.com.