Recipe: Duck fat fish and chips and mushy peas

Duck fat fish and chips and mushy peas. Photo / Michael Craig

Serves 4

For the chips:
• 1kg Agria potatoes, skin on
• Duck fat, enough to fill your deep fryer
• Sea salt

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 and allow to cool.

For the pea puree:
• 350g peas, defrosted
• 2 shallots
• 60g unsalted butter
• 1l water
• 20g sea salt
• 40g caster sugar

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:
• 150g self-raising flour
• 1 bottle lager beer
• 600g Gurnard fillets, skinned and boned
• 2 lemons, cut into wedges
• Sea salt
• Additional flour for dusting

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. 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.

3. Serve the fish and chips with a good spoon of the warmed mushy peas and a lemon wedge.

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