FISH PLACE RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
  2. Peel and slice the potatoes into chips.
  3. To make the mushy peas, pick and finely chop the mint leaves. Place the butter in a pan over a medium-low heat, add the peas and mint, pop the lid on and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
  4. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste with sea salt and black pepper – you can either mush the peas up in a food processor, or mash them by hand until stodgy, thick and perfect for dipping your fish into. Keep them warm until needed.
  5. Pour the sunflower oil into a deep fat fryer or a large sturdy pan and heat it to 190°C/375°F.
  6. Mix ½ a teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper together, then use it to season the fish fillets on both sides – this will help to remove any excess water, making the fish really meaty.
  7. Whisk the flour, beer and baking powder together until nice and shiny – the texture should be like semi-whipped double cream (i.e. it should stick to whatever you're coating).
  8. Dust each fish fillet in a little of the extra flour, then dip into the batter and allow any excess to drip off. Holding one end, gently lower the fish into the oil one by one, working carefully so you don't get splashed – it will depend on the size of your fryer or pan how many fish you can cook at once.
  9. Cook for 4 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and the batter is golden and crisp, then remove to kitchen paper to drain.
  10. Meanwhile, parboil the chips in boiling salted water for 4 to 5 minutes, or until softened but still retaining their shape, then drain and steam dry.
  11. When the chips are nice and dry, fry in the oil that the fish were cooked in at 180°C/350°F until golden and crisp.
  12. While the chips are frying, transfer the fish from the kitchen paper to a baking tray. Place in the oven for a few minutes to finish cooking – this way they will stay crisp while you finish off the chips.
  13. When the chips are done, drain them on kitchen paper, season with salt, and serve with the fish and mushy peas. Other things to have on the table are some crunchy sweet pickled gherkins, some pickled onions (if your other half isn't around!) – and pickled chillies are good, too. Then you want to douse it all with some cheap malt vinegar and nothing other than Heinz tomato ketchup.

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/gas 8.
  2. Peel and dice the potatoes into 2.5cm chunks, then put into boiling salted water and bring back to the boil for 2 minutes.
  3. Carefully add the eggs to the pan and cook for a further 8 minutes, or until hard-boiled, by which time the potatoes should also be cooked.
  4. At the same time, steam the spinach in a colander above the pan. This will only take a minute. When the spinach is done, remove from the colander and gently squeeze out any excess moisture.
  5. Drain the potatoes in the colander. Remove the eggs, cool under cold water, then peel and quarter them. Place to one side.
  6. Peel and finely chop the onion, then peel, halve and finely chop the carrot.
  7. In a separate pan, slowly fry the onion and carrot in a little oil for about 5 minutes, then add the double cream and bring just to the boil.
  8. Remove from the heat and finely grate in 2 good handfuls of cheese, then squeeze in the lemon juice and stir through the mustard.
  9. Pick and finely chop the parsley and stir into the cream mixture.
  10. Slice the fish into strips then place in an earthenware dish with the spinach and eggs and mix together, pouring over the creamy vegetable sauce.
  11. The cooked potatoes should be drained and mashed – add a bit of oil, sea salt, black pepper and a touch of nutmeg (if using). Spread on top of the fish. Don’t bother piping it to make it look pretty – it’s a homely hearty thing.
  12. Place in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden.
  13. Serve with some nice peas or greens, not forgetting your baked beans and tomato ketchup. Tacky but tasty, and that’s what I like.