Once again I’m a day late and a dollar short – although not so short on dollars that I couldn’t buy my fish and my bacon.

This week’s recipe was for Panfried Fish Sandwiches with Bacon Mayonnaise.  Just say that to yourself a few times, reverently.

Bronwen chose the recipe from The Improvisational Cook – which looks like something I ought to get my hands on.  Because lately I’m all about tweaking recipes.  This week I didn’t change much, though, and it was a thing of beauty as is.

First you cook your bacon, and perhaps nibble on it or save it for a BLT later.  Then you mix your warm bacon fat with some mayonnaise.  Which is a beautiful thing.  In the meantime, you can salt and pepper your fish and dredge it in flour.  The recipe recommended a meaty white fish such as striped or black bass, red snapper, or grouper, none of which were at the fish counter at NS.  So I went with a ling cod that was rated yellow on their scale, ie ‘good alternatives.’  I have no idea about ling vs other cods, but I figured since it was smothering it in fats and frying it, I didn’t need to worry about getting a fancy fish.

I put a few slices of leftover crusty potato bread under the broiler (on low) and then cooked the fish – in olive oil AND butter as recommended, plus I used the bacon pan so there was a bit of bacon fat left in there for good measure.  Medium high, a minute and a half per side and it looked perfectly done.  I forgot to pat it dry, so the bread got a trifle soggy, but that might have happened anyway.  When it was toasted, I sprinkled a little olive oil on the bread and rubbed it with a cut-open clove of garlic.  Do not skip this step, especially if you like garlic.  Not only does it smell heavenly when you’re rubbing the warm bread, but it really adds a lot of taste.  Then spread the bread with your bacon mayo (I used TJ’s mayo, but I bet homemade would be even more fabulous).  Top with the fish, plenty of lettuce, and a garden tomato is nice, too, if you have one.

I’m looking forward to a repeat for tomorrow’s lunch.  I bought 1/2 lb of fish and sliced it in half horizontally, perfect for two sandwiches.  I had this one for lunch while reading the New Yorker’s food issue.