Potato Chip Fish

Malachi has been having a rough time lately. He's been happy through the day but then from about 4:30 until bedtime he just fusses and cries and sometimes screams. He might play and be happy for a few minutes, and then all of the sudden - wham! - he's fussing. I wish I knew what was wrong or how to fix it. Or even if anything is wrong at all. Maybe he's just got a "witching hour" or having a rough week or something. I don't know.

At any rate, making dinner has been a challenge. Eating dinner has been a whole 'nother challenge. Whereas he used to just watch us eat, now at the slightest implication that I might have food (a bag opening, a top popping - ok, so I've been eating a lot of chips lately), he whips his head around and stares. It's a very intense, scary stare, too. As soon as I start chewing he belly-crawls as fast as he possibly can until he is nearly on top of my feet. Then he shakes his butt and whines til I give him some of what I'm eating. It's hilarious. So far through this method we've discovered that he likes noodles, tomatoes, rice, green beans, and salt and vinegar chips (again with the chips).

So due in part to my obsession with affinity for chips lately, Jeremy and I have what I like to call the "chip mountain." I buy chips, we eat them until there are only crumbs left, I try to throw them away, Jeremy says "No! They're still good!", I roll them up and throw them on the "chip mountain," and then they sit there and get stale. Last night I threw away a few bags, and then I took the last bag and made this:

Baked Potato Chip Fish

~1 pound white fish (we used four tilapia filets)
~1 cup crumbled wavy potato chips
~3 tablespoons butter
~1 teaspoon Paprika
~1 teaspoon of parsley
~1/2 teaspoon black pepper
~1/4 teaspoon onion powder
~dash of salt



Pre-heat the oven to 425. Melt the butter and pour enough into a glass baking dish to coat the bottom. Rinse the fish and pat dry, then lay filets in the pan. Lightly season the fish with salt. Mix chips, paprika, parsley, pepper, and onion powder, and spread liberally over the top of fish. Drizzle remaining butter over fish. Bake approximately 10 minutes or until fish is flaky and chips are browned.



I used stale chips for this recipe and the oven toasted them right up. I did see some recipes out there that called for flavored chips, especially salt and vinegar. Experiment, and if you try something different, let me know how it turned out!