Duck fat fish and chips and mushy peas

Michael Craig

Mushy peas are the modern take on the dried peas phenomenon (blue boilers), and while they make me equally joyous, I take a quicker option of garden peas and mint, boiled and pulsed in a food processor. This turns out a little bit chunky and a little bit nutty with a herbaceous hint of mint that is just delightful - the perfect complement to the crisp and crunchy batter.

Chips

1 kg	Agria potato, skin on
1	Duck fat, enough to fill your deep fryer

Pea puree

350 g	Peas, defrosted
2	Shallots
60 g	Unsalted butter
1 Ltr	Water
20 g	Sea salt
40 g	Caster sugar

To finish

150 g	Self raising flour, plus extra flour for dusting
1 bottle	Lager
600 g	Gurnard, fillets, skinned and boned (Main)
2	Lemons, cut into wedges

Directions

Chips

1. Heat the deep fryer to 130C. Scrub the potatoes to remove any dirt then cut into chips 1cm x 1cm-thick.
2. Cook the chips in the fryer for 8 minutes until soft. Carefully put the chips on a tray in one layer, season with salt, and allow to cool.

Pea puree

1. Combine the water, sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the peas and cook for 2 minutes.
2. Drain the peas then combine with the butter in a food processor and pulse the mix a few times to crush the peas, being careful not to blend too much.

To finish

1. Heat the deep fryer to 180C. In a bowl gently whisk together the beer and self-raising flour, being careful not to over work the batter (a few lumps are okay). The chips will take about 7 minutes to finish in the deep fryer and the fish about 5 minutes, so start the chips first.
2. Season the fish with salt and lightly dust with flour. Place the floured fish in the batter to coat. Slowly and carefully place the battered fish into the deep fryer. Make sure the fish is just about to float before releasing it, otherwise it can sink to the bottom of the fryer and get stuck.
3. Once the fish and chips are golden, lift them in the basket and allow to drain. Place on a paper towel to absorb any excess fat and season with salt.
4. Serve the fish and chips with a good spoon of the warmed mushy peas and a lemon wedge.