Bread Coated Haddock

Pan-fried fish, and haddock in particular, is an old, delicious stand-by. Usually the fish is dipped in a flour and/or egg mixture, then coated in some type of tasty, crispy coating. Breadcrumbs are very popular, as are panko breadcrumbs, crushed cereal, crushed crackers, nuts, and seeds and mixtures with herbs and spices. However, did you ever think of coating the fish (or chicken or pork for that matter) in something different? Have you ever considered using an actual slice of bread, instead of breadcrumbs? I sure hadn't, until I saw it on a cooking show on tv the other day. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. If you make your own homemade breadcrumbs, it is less work as the bread doesn't need to be ground into crumbs. It has the same flavor and similar texture. I was intrigued as to whether this idea would really be successful, as it was on the show. So the next time we had haddock, I suggested my father try it.

We used a slice of (gasp) store-bought sandwich bread, which is soft and easy to work with. My father flattened it out, then put it onto the fish. He only placed it on top so it coated one side, then pan-fried it as usual.
The result? Although only one side of the fish is coated, the bread is thicker than a layer of breadcrumbs would be, so it really only needs a single side coating. The other side, which is fried directly in the hot pan, developed a nice sear with a tasty crust. The bread was so crispy and golden and just delicious. Frying flattened bread with fish juices really makes a gourmet version of toast. The only complaints I would have, which could easily be fixed with some alterations, would be that the bread doesn't have as much flavor, as it is not seasoned as breadcrumbs would be. Seasoning the fish, spreading a mixture on the bread, or serving a sauce over top would easily solve this. The second problem is the bread doesn't stick to the fish as well as breadcrumbs would, but we will need to experiment with pre-dipping ingredients to solve this.