Wednesday 14 November 2012

(Not Quite) Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas!


Hands down, Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas is my favourite meal of all time. Four years in Fife only exacerbated this addiction to fried fish with chips. Spoilt for choice, there were many excellent venues for that FCP fix. Many arduous workouts were duly rewarded with a greedy fix at the Jigger Inn (yes, KHC, I’m looking at you). Since being back in London, I have yet to indulge in my favourite meal… until now.

Not-So-Traditional-Fish Supper!

Well, kind of. This meal is technically a serving of fish, and a serving of chips and mushed up peas, but not in the way that I’m used to. Firstly, this meal is completely homemade. Secondly, no deep fat fryers (or beef dripping for that matter) are involved. And lastly, little tweaks were made. Goodbye beer batter and white potato, hello breadcrumbs and sweet potato… infinitely healthier, and just as satisfying, if not more!

Come back to London town!!

A great friend of mine was in London, so invited him along with his sister and another friend of mine for supper. Sharing a delicious home-cooked meal with friends is one of my favourite ways to spend an evening! Catching up over the past couple of months, getting to know new friends, a relaxed evening at home was just what I needed… until we were inspired to head out for a dance! After some white wine and delicious bubbly, we were well and truly satisfied and ready to dance the night away!

A simple, healthy and comforting meal for 4. And so you can make it yourself...

Sweet Potato Fries

            5 medium-large sweet potatoes
            2 teaspoons of cornstarch
            generous pinch of salt and pepper
            generous sprinkling of Umami 5 powder
            ½ teaspoon of paprika
            olive oil


Preheat oven to 220°C. Peel and cut up sweet potatoes into fries-shaped pieces and place the sweet potato sticks into a large bowl. Add enough olive oil to lightly coat the fries along with the cornstarch and seasoning. Mix well so that all the cornstarch and seasoning is evenly spread all over the fries. Spread across a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer. Bake in the oven on the top shelf for 30 minutes, taking them out and flipping them over halfway through cooking. When they’re ready, the sweet potatoes will lose the waxy, smooth look of the raw potatoes and will look slightly puffed up.

Lemon and Parsley Breaded Fish

            4 fillets of haddock (or any other white fish of preference)
            1 beaten egg
            2 cups of breadcrumbs (I made my own by blitzing a stale baguette)
            zest of 1 lemon
            generous pinch of salt and pepper
            handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped


Combine the breadcrumbs, lemon zest, salt, pepper and parsley in a bowl before transferring this mixture onto a large plate. Create an assembly line and lining up fish, egg and breadcrumb mixture in that order, with a fresh plate at the end. Submerge a fillet of fish in the beaten egg before covering the fillet in breadcrumbs and placing the now breadcrumbed fillet onto the fresh plate. Repeat this for the other fillets. Place the fillets onto a parchment-lined baking tray and bake in the same oven as the sweet potatoes on the bottom shelf for around 30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

Homemade Dipping Sauce
           
            ½ cup of crème fraiche
            handful of caper berries
            1 small pickle and a generous glug of pickle juice
            the juice and zest of 1 lemon
            1 chopped onion


Put all the ingredients in a mini food processor. Blitz, taste, and enjoy!

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