peas, sweetcorn and chicory - with fish and chips and gherkin fritters

Fish and chips are a solid tradition in this household, but sometimes it's worth adding a twist, particularly when something less usual turns up in the veg box.  This week, I thought I'd try batter instead of recent cornmeal crispy coatings, and had a bit of a bonkers idea about chopped gherkins in the batter (you know, in the batter instead of in the tartare suace, well why not ??) ... and had some red chicory in the veg box.

The gherkin didn't stick very well to the fish in the batter - BUT little blobs of it fried in the batter (like a bhaji) were DELICIOUS!

So, start with the potatoes, chop and par boil - heating the oil in a tray in the oven, so that it's hot to transfer the drained potatoes an hour before you want to serve.  Then prep the veg and batter for the fish then need to be sorted 20 minutes before you want to serve.  Start the veg, then when it's simmering start frying the fish .. then it'll all be done about the same time.

"Chips"

Boil, drain, roast in hot oil...

Fish in batter

Enough fish (I cut pollock fillets into 3-4 pieces, about 4 cm square)
cornflour
polenta
cream of tartar
cold water
Chopped gherkin
salt and pepper

olive oil

1.  Mix cornflour, polenta and cream of tartar with cold water to form a batter - the consistency of double cream.
2.  Stir in finely chopped gherkins and seasoning.
3.  When ready, coat fish in batter, and fry in batches, in hot olive oil.  Fry for a minute or so on each side, and drain on kitchen roll.  Keep warm.
4.  Collect the remaining chopped gherkin and batter into spoonfuls, and fry as little fritters.

Vegetables

olive oil
1 onion, chopped
frozen sweetcorn
frozen petit pois
garlic
chopped chicory
white wine
squirt of lemon juice

1.  Sautee onion in olive oil.
2.  When soft add frozen veg and garlic, turn in oil - add in wine and simmer
3.  Throw shredded chicory on the top and allow to wilt, add a little water if its looking dry.
4.  After about 4-5 minutes it should be heated through - squirt with lemon juice and grind on black pepper.


Rally good.  Chicory works really well with peas and sweetcorn instead of lettuce in the french version.  The gherkin fritters were spectacular.