Stuff yer bake

I have always been a bit wary of trying battered fish as I had visions of a blazing chip pan inferno and fire engines carrying uniformed, sweaty, powerful men to help hose down your ikea kitchen cabinets, rescue your kitty from the next door neighbours tree etc. etc. (well every cloud has a sliver lining). I opened this months Good Food magazine and spied Golden beer battered fish with chips and plucked up the courage to give it a go. This recipe oven bakes the chips so you have just the one pan to keep your eye on and everything can be served at the same time minus the singed eyebrows. 

The recipe turned out quite nicely but I made a few adjustments as I felt the chips weren’t very crisp. I think this was because there wasn’t enough oil used and I don’t think they were boiled long enough. The recipe also mixed the flour and cold oil together with the chips before being put in the oven. I think tossing the steaming chips in the flour and heating the oil in the oven first should make sure they come out crisp.

The other problem was that the fish fillets were not as nice and thick as I would have hoped but I think a trip to the fish mongers early on a Saturday morning might remedy that instead of relying on the supermarket. I also would have liked the batter to be a bit thicker, so I reduced the amount of liquid in the recipe.

Give it a go and tell me what, if any other alterations you would make.

Serves 2

For the Fish:

50g plain flour

50g cornflour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp tumeric

75ml fridge cold lager

50 ml fridge cold sparkling water

1 ltr sunflower oil

400g fillet sustainable cod, hake or haddock

seasoning

For the chips:

750g maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into chunky chips

2 tbsp plain flour

4 tsp olive oil

seasoning

Begin by making the batter. Put the flours, seasoning and baking soda into a bowl. Set aside 1 tbsp of the mixture onto a plate then, whilst whisking slowly, add the liquid to the bowl combining until it forms a smooth lump free batter. Put in the fridge for about 30 mins.

Heat the oven to about 190 degrees centigrade. Put the olive oil onto a baking sheet and put in the oven to heat up. Heat a pan of salted water to boiling point and add the chips. Cook for about three or four minutes until the outside is slightly soft, drain and rough the edges of the chips by shaking them gently in the pan. Toss the chips immediately in the flour and add them to the hot oil. Turn them around carefully in the oil and put into the oven. Cook for about 35 to 40 minutes until golden and crisp. 

Heat the sunflower oil in a deep pan until a drop of batter crisps up immediately when dropped into the hot oil. Dry the fish by patting it with kitchen paper then toss in the flour that you set aside earlier and shake off the excess. Drape the fish into the batter to cover completely, allow the excess to drip off briefly, then lower the fish into the hot oil and lay it away from you. Cook for about 6-8 mins depending on the thickness of your fillet, until golden. Remove the fish with a slotted spoon, drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle sea salt over the top, keep warm. Repeat with the other fillet. Remove the chips from the oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve immediately with some home made tartare sauce.

It was the other half’s turn to cook last weekend and he picked a very blokey dish of sausage and tomato bake. It isn’t a dish that I would’ve picked, probably because purely by looking at it I could hear the distant groan of my jeans as I try and force my sausagey bulk into them. The other thing is that it is a very simple dish and I sometimes struggle to do simple, thinking that complicated is more impressive. Having said all that the dish was lovely and just served with crusty bread and a glass (or four) of red wine it went down very nicely. The recipe is out of Jamie Oliver’s latest book Jamie at home.

Serves 6

• 2kg ripe cherry tomatoes, all different colours if you can get them
• 2 sprigs each of fresh thyme, rosemary and bay leaves
• 1 tblsp dried oregano
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 12 good quality Cumberland sausages or course Italian pork sausages
• extra virgin olive oilbalsamic vinegar
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade. Place all the tomatoes, herb sprigs, oregano, garlic and sausages in one layer in a roasting tin and drizzle well with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Mix this all together, making sure the sausages are on top and roast for 30 minutes. Take it out of the oven, give the tin a shake, turn the sausages and then bake for another 15 to 30 minutes depending on how golden you want the sausages. Remove the sausages from the tin and if the sauce is a bit thin boil it up on the hob until it is the consistency you want. Serve with warm crust bread and lashings of red wine. Real man food, but something for the girls to enjoy too. Grrrrrr!!