Tilapia Fish Sticks with Chipotle Aioli Sauce

I have never been much for frozen fish sticks on a Friday night but last weekend it was raining and I had just finished up a bike ride and wanted some fried and bad for me (but I knew I could do better than that...right?)  So I thought well people love fish sticks and I could break the barrier between fresh and frozen so I thought I would give them a shot.  I picked up some tilapia ( a very common white fish with omega 6-fatty acids ) and looked in my "spice cabinet" (filed with all of 5 spices, the thing I miss most about home is the abundance of spices) and took out all the spicy stuff.
I am not known for making good sauces, salsas, dips, etc so I was a little hesitant on making a sauce to dip the fish in.  I thought back a couple weeks to a chipotle aioli sauce I had on a turkey sandwich at Bonfires (thanks State Farm for buying me lunch!) and wanted to give that a stab.  The aioli was good but I should not have been scared to use mayo (I used sour cream and yogurt) as it would have been better.
The recipe follows along with pictures and instructions (I forgot to cut the fish into "stick" like pieces so remember to do that unless you want to make it more "fancy" then you could serve it as a fillet!  Enjoy this Just Good Food!


Recipe for Fish:  Serves 3

12 oz tilapia
1 cup flour
2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp italian seasoning
1 large egg
2/3 cup bread crumbs (panko preferred)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
lemon juice
olive oil
salt and pepper

Recipe for Chipotle Aioli

1/2 cup mayonaise
2 tbsp greek yogurt
1/2 lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp chipotle chile
salt


Directions:
First get 3 bowls out and put the flour in 1 large bowl with 1 tsp paprika, the cayenne, and 1/2 tbsp italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes.  Scramble an egg in the second bowl and bread crumbs in the third bowl (preferably panko bread crumbs because they are crunchier and tastes fried) with the remaining spices and salt and pepper.
Take a baking dish and spread 1 tbsp of olive oil on the bottom of the pan and preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Cut the fish into whatever shape you want and clean the fillets.

Next, flour the fillets with one hand (shake the access flour off) then place in the egg batter (repeat this process twice with every piece of fish to make it crunchier).  After the second time around place the fish pieces into the bread and coat heavily all over the fish.
Repeat this process until all the fish are coasted, and place each piece of fish on the baking dish and put in the hot oven for about 14-16 minutes (keep an eye on these so they don't get burnt).
After the fish is done, squeeze lots of lemon juice on the fish and serve!

While the fish is cooking start making the sauce.  The best way to make the sauce is using a food processor but it can be done without one.

First peel 2 cloves of garlic and mince in the processor (or by knife) and then mix in all the other ingredients and mix very well.  Add salt and extra lie juice to taste, this will make about 1 cup of sauce (use extra sauce on a sandwich).