Hot Fish and Chip Salad
Serves 4 as a main course
I know this sounds a bit wacky but it is a really good dish - it a little on the rustic side - with bags of flavour. Trust me.
- 400g cod fillet, skinned
- 300g squid, cleaned and cut into thick rings
- 200g fine fresh breadcrumbs
- 400g small waxy potatoes
- groundnut oil
- 3 bunches of watercress and 1 bunch of rocket
For the dressing:
- a large bunch of flat-leafed parsley, stalks removed
- 6 bushey sprigs of mint, stalks removed
- 8 anchovy fillets, rinsed
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- a tablespoon of Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons capers, rinsed
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Cut the cod into large pieces, about 5cm long. Roll the cod and squid in the crumbs. Halve the potatoes lengthways and lower them into boiling salted water for five minutes. Drain, then fry them gently in shallow oil till soft and golden - a matter of fifteen to twenty minutes - turning occasionally.
Whilst they cook, whizz the dressing ingredients briefly in a blender (or chop the herbs and anchovies, then beat in the other ingredients). You want a thick, lumpy, vivid green sludge.
Once the potatoes are done, remove them from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Pour in more oil and, when it is really hot and sizzling, add the crumbed fish. Fry till golden, then drain on kitchen paper.
Divide the watercress and rocket between four plates. Place the hot, drained fish and potatoes on top, then drizzle with green sauce.
Peter Gordon's Sweet Potato, Rosemary and Garlic Mash
Serves 4 as a side dish
A light, fragrant and beautifully coloured mash from Peter Gordon.
- 1kg sweet potatoes, peeled and cut roughly into 2cm dice
- 200g unsalted butter
- 1 red chilli, finely sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
- 2 dessertspoons fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped
Put the potatoes in a pan, cover with cold water, add a few teaspoons of salt and boil until tender, just like ordinary potatoes.
Meanwhile, heat up the butter in a small pan and, when melted, add the remaining ingredients. Cook over a moderate heat until the garlic begins to colour, stirring from time to time, then take off the heat.
Drain and mash the potatoes, then stir in the chilli mixture. Taste for seasoning and serve.
Baked Potatoes with Smoked Haddock and Mustard
Serves 2 as a main course, with salad and a pudding
- 4 baked potatoes as before
- 225g smoked haddock
- 300ml double cream
- 2 tablespoons grain mustard
- a palmful of parsley leaves, chopped
Put the smoked haddock in a shallow baking dish skin-side down. Season the cream with the mustard, parsley and a little salt and pepper and pour it over the haddock. Bake in the same oven as the potatoes until the flakes of the fish fall apart easily - about twenty minutes.
Break open the potatoes, scrape the flesh into a bowl, then return the empty skins to the oven to crisp a little if necessary. Mash the potato with the cream fromt he cooked fish, whipping it with a hand-held beater to get it smooth. Tease the flesh from the skin of the fish with a fork, keeping the flakes as whole as possible. Stir them into the creamed potato, check the seasoning, then pile back into the hot potato skins and place briefly under a hot grill until the peaks of the potato start to crisp and colour.
Slow-Fried Potatoes With Thyme and Taleggio
Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a side dish for, say, grilled ham or cold chicken.
- 500g waxy potatoes
- a medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 50g (a thick slice) butter
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
- a small palmful of thyme leaves
- 100g semi-soft cheese such as taleggio or fontina
Slice the potatoes into rounds the thickness of pound coins. Fry the sliced onions gently in the oil and butter in a shallow pan about 22cm in diameter. As it becomes soft and pale gold add the potatoes, a little salt and ground pepper, the garlic and thyme and toss gently to coat the spuds in oil and herbs.
Turn the heat as low as possible and cover the pan so that the potatoes cook slowly, stirring them from time to time. After forty to fifty minutes they will be soft and golden. Slice the cheese thinly, lay it on the potatoes and cover the pan again. It will have melted after a couple of minutes.
Potato and Smoked Makerel Dauphiniose
Serves 4 as a main dish
- 450g waxy potatoes, scraped
- 225g smoked mackerel fillets
- 2 bay leaves
- 300ml double cream
- 200ml full cream milk
- 1 tablespoon grain mustard
Slice the potatoes lengthways, about as thick as one-pound coins. Put them in a shallow baking dish about 30cm in diameter. Break the mackerel fillets into large, bite-sized pieces and toss them gently with the potatoes. Try not to break the fish up too much. Tuck in the bay leaves.
Mix together with cream, milk, mustard and a little salt and pepper, then pour it over the potatoes. Bake in the oven preheated to 190°C/Gas 5 for about one hour, till the cream is bubbling and the potatoes are knife-tender.
Chips
Enough for 2
- 4 large, floury potatoes
- 2 litres melted dripping or lard or sunflower oil for deep-frying
Peel the potatoes and cut them into long, thick slices, about as long and thick as your fingers. Unless you have very big hands, in which case you should aim for about 1cm in width. Leave them in cold water to stop them sticking together.
Put the fat or oil to heat in a deep pan over a low flame. Bring it slowly up to 150°C. If you don't have a kitchen thermometer, you can check by adding a chip to the oil - it is sinks, then the oil is not hot enough. If it floats in a mass of bubbles, the temperature is right. Drain the chips and dry them on a clean tea towel, then put them in a frying basket and lower them gently into the fat. They will crackle and bubble alarmingly. Let them fry for about five minutes, until they are soft but still pale. Lift out and drain. Bring the oil up to 185°C. Be very careful at this point - the fat is very dangerous (you know this, but I just want to remind you). Return the chips to the fat for three to four minutes, shaking the basket now and again to help them brown evenly.
When they are golden brown and crisp, drain briefly on kitchen paper. Salt them enthusiastically and please don't forget to turn off the fat.
Chips and Bearnaise
Enough for 2 as a snack
- the chips as before
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- a shallot, peeled and chopped
- 6 black peppercorns
- a teaspoon of dried tarragon
- 2 free range egg yolks
- a teaspoon of Dijon mustard
- 150g soft, almost melted butter
- a palmful of chopped tarragon leaves
Bring the vinegar, shallot, peppercorns and dried tarragon to the boil with 2 tablespoons of water in a small pan. Simmer till there is almost no liquid left. We are only talking about a couple of minutes here.
Put the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Working quickly, add the mustard, then whist in the dregs of liquid from the small pan, leaving the solids behind. Now gently whisk in the butter a little at a time. Once the sauce has thickened, stir in the tarragon and a little salt. Keep whisking, slowly and regularly. It should be as thick as custard.
Pour into a warm bowl and eat with the chips.
Chips and Roast Chilli Sauce
Enough for 4
- the chips as before
- 6 ripe tomatoes
- 3 hot red chillies
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 teaspoons soft brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons tomato puree
- the juice of a lime
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves
Roast the tomatoes, chillies and garlic in an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas 4 until the tomato skins are blackened. Squeeze the garlic from its skin. Whizz the tomatoes and chillies (including the skins) in a food processor with the garlic, brown sugar, tomato puree, lime juice, olive oil and corainder until they form a coarse pulp. Add salt to taste and set aside for several hours for the flavours to marry. Eat with the chips.
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