Home Cooked

SERVES 4

Sunflower or rapeseed oil, for frying

500g skinless fish fillets, such as haddock, cod or hake, cut into goujon-sized pieces

3–4 tbsp plain flour, plus 75g for the batter

200ml cold beer

Lemon wedges, to serve

FOR THE ROSTI POTATO CAKES

600g waxy potatoes, peeled

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

Sea salt and ground black pepper

1 tbsp butter

FOR THE PEA MASH

1 tbsp butter

200g frozen peas

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Good handful of mint leaves

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas Mark 4.

To make the rosti potato cakes, grate the potato into a clean dry tea towel. Gather the towel around the potato and form a small ball. Squeeze it over the sink to remove the starchy liquid. Heat the oil in a 20cm-diameter non-stick ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat. Season and press the grated potato into the pan so that it coats the base. Dot little lumps of butter over the top and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the pea mash, melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat until it is foaming. Add the peas and cook for about 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the oil and mint leaves and then mash with a potato masher until the peas are roughly smooth. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper to taste and keep warm. For the goujons, fill a high-sided frying pan with 2.5–5cm of oil and place it over a high heat. It needs to be very hot when you start to fry. Coat the fish in the 3–4 tablespoons of flour, shake off the excess and set aside.

Place the 75g flour in a large mixing bowl, make a well in the middle, pour in a little beer and mix through. Add the beer and mix until you have a smooth batter. Season with ground black pepper and then drop a little of the batter into the hot oil; if it floats and puffs up, it’s hot enough.

Working beside the pan, dip the fish goujons in the batter one at a time and then into the hot oil. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan as this will reduce the heat. Cook them for about 4 minutes until golden brown, turning halfway through the cooking time. Remove the goujons using a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper.

Season generously with sea salt and ground black pepper. Serve with lemon wedges and a good helping of mushy mint peas and a quarter of the rosti.

SOLE MEUNIÈRE

Fish is often forgotten as the ultimate fast food. It is an incredibly quick cooking ingredient and I would normally wax lyrically about just how healthy it is too, but not in this recipe. No, this recipe is all about the nutty golden brown butter that forms the sauce alongside the tang of lemon juice and the salty hit from the capers. It’s a bit of an all-in recipe and if you’re going to make it, serve it with some steamed veggies for a delicious dinner.

SERVES 4

4 sole or plaice fillets, skin on

5 tbsp plain flour

Sea salt and ground black pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

100g butter

Juice of 1 lemon

3 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed

A little flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, to garnish (optional)

Remove any prominent bones from the fish fillets using tweezers. Season the flour with salt and pepper on a large plate and press the fillets into the mix to coat on either side. Shake off any excess and set aside on a clean plate.

Heat the oil in a frying pan, which is big enough to accommodate the fish fillets over a high heat. Add the fish fillets, skin-side down, and cook for 2 minutes and then turn over and cook for a further minute until golden. Using a fish slice, remove the fillets from the pan and set aside on a warmed plate.

Place the pan back over a high heat and melt the butter until it is foaming, then add the lemon juice and capers and continue to cook until the butter turns a nutty golden brown. Pour the butter, lemon and caper mix over the fish and serve straight away garnished with the parsley, if using.

FLAVOUR BOMB SALAD

If you ever needed proof that something incredibly delicious can be made in a very short amount of time, then this salad is just that! Packed with punchy heat from the chorizo and salty squidginess from the halloumi, this little dish is full of wonderful things to keep you interested, even if you have very little time to make dinner. Speed up this recipe by buying sunblushed tomatoes intstead of roasting them yourself.

SERVES 4

300g cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

100g chorizo sausage, cut into chunky discs

200g halloumi cheese, cut into 1cm thick slices

Juice of ½ lemon

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

Sea salt and ground black pepper

1 Baby Gem lettuce, leaves separated

200g chickpeas, drained and rinsed