Tonight is a bit of a cheat night (you knew I’d slip right?) …
I have some really fond memories of Fish and Chips with my dad as a kid. Now that I’ve got kids of my own I like to think I’ll have some nice memories of fish and chips with them as well though it’s not so easy when you’re not in Ireland or the UK. The big problem with going for a simple fish and chips is going to cost the guts of 40 quid or more (for 4), which is a bit mad!. (I’ve been to Martin’s fish and chip shop in Nantes recently with Charlotte as well as Poisson Paré with Val back in February). We also grew up with a deep fat fryer at home but it’s not something I really want in our flat. I just think of all the oil used and all that’s left on the chips and we don’t eat chips all that often. However sometimes you just fancy a little bit of your childhood again. I was also extremely picky as a kid but I do remember eating fish fingers at times. The breadcrumbs … the texture inside … oh wait the texture inside … you mean the shredded / chopped up … god knows what? Exactly! So when I introduced Val to my home made chicken nuggets she took that a step further and proceeded to make our own home made fish fingers, and they are tasty. She’s responsible for the dinner tonight. Note: You might call these fish goujons or nuggets … I’m just going to go with Fish Fingers though 🙂
What you’ll need …
- Fish!!! I know you’re as shocked as I am. Depending on how many you want to make you’ll want bout 300 to 500 grammes (we used 300 and it was just right) Any white fish should do. Cod is a favourite obviously it is however one of the more expensive white fishes. We went with some Lieu Noir / Pollock which is a good bit cheaper. Also be careful with regards to bones. You may be lucky enough to be able to buy some with none.
- White Flour … (enough to cover your cut up fish you can always add more)
- An Egg ( Beaten .. Val mixed in some chives )
- Breadcrumbs ( Got some old left over bread? blend it up and store it in a bag in the freezer or just make some fresh as well. Just make sure the bread isn’t too fresh ) In our case Val made some soda bread the other week. We didn’t end up using it quickly enough and it went hard so we blended it up and put it in the fridge.
We also ended up cheating and just used some store bought wedges that we can throw in the oven for 15 minutes.
You’ll want some frozen peas and some cream cheese if you want to make some mushy peas as a side (We’re responsible parents honest!! there has to be something green on the plate)
This does not take a long time so get your oven heated … get your wedges in and get your peas on ( just boil with a little sprinkle of salt for 10 or so minutes and test if cooked)
Cut your fish into nice sized chunks (Try to remove bones if you feel any)
Dip in flour to dry them off
Dip in egg to make them sticky (Here you can see my lovely assistant’s hand 😛 .. no no she did everything)
Dip in breadcrumbs to make them fish fingery.
You hopefully end up with a nice plate looking a little something like this
Heat a large pan (you want to cook them all at the same time) with a good dollop of butter (cus that’s how we roll)! get it nice and hot and place in the fish fingers .. reduce the heat as you don’t want things to burn and butter burns at a lower heat than oil. You’ll want to give them 3 or so minutes each side. To be honest it’ll depend on how thick they are and if it’s starting to burn … flip em.
If you’re going making mushy peas take a dollop of cream cheese and your peas once they are drained and blend (we actually used the baby cook we have from Charlotte as it steams and blends .. if you don’t have a blender use a potato masher though it probably won’t be as smooth) … you might want to add a drop of water … you can always add more cream cheese but you can’t take it out. If you wanted you could add a bit of mint or other herbs but we don’t generally put those in.
Get everything ready
Serve with Malt Vinegar and some Fleur de Sel Guérande 😛 (Watch the French scream in terror at the malt vinegar)
Merci Val 🙂