Fish Fingers, Chips & Peas

Ingredients

• 500g cod fillets, skinned and cut into fingers
• 75g plain flour, for dredging
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 150g fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 800g Maris Piper potatoes, cut into chips
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil, for the chips
• 300g frozen peas
• 15g unsalted butter
• 100g mayonnaise
• 2 gherkins, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp capers, chopped
• sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 lemon wedges (optional)
• Dressed green salad, to serve
• Fresh dill, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C fan (220°C conventional). Soak the chipped potatoes in cold water for 5 minutes if you've got time, then dry them properly on a tea towel — water means steam, and steam means soggy chips instead of crisp ones.
2. Toss the chips with the oil and a generous pinch of salt, then spread in a single layer on a baking tray. Don't crowd them — overlap and they'll steam rather than roast. Roast for 30–35 minutes, turning halfway, until deeply golden at the edges and fluffy within.
3. While the chips cook, set up a crumb station in three trays: seasoned flour in one, beaten eggs in another, and breadcrumbs tossed with the smoked paprika and a good pinch of salt in the third. Toast the paprika-crumbs in a dry pan for 60 seconds first if you want extra depth — bloomed paprika tastes of itself; raw paprika tastes dusty.
4. Season the fish fingers with salt and pepper before they hit the flour. Dredge each one in flour, shake off the excess, dip in egg, then press firmly into the crumbs so every face is properly coated. Lay them on a lined tray with space between them — crowded fingers go soft on the underside.
5. Slide the tray into the oven for the last 12–15 minutes of the chips' roasting time, turning once at the halfway point, until the crumb is crisp and deeply golden and the fish flakes easily with a fork.
6. Five minutes before serving, drop the peas into boiling salted water for 3–4 minutes until bright green and tender. Drain, return to the warm pan off the heat, add the butter and chopped mint, and crush lightly with a fork — keep them rustic, not puréed. Taste and season; the butter wants salt to wake it up.
7. Stir the chopped gherkins and capers through the mayonnaise with a squeeze of lemon — the acid lifts the whole sauce out of the jar and into something proper. Taste, season, taste again. It should be sharp, salty and punchy.
8. Pile the chips onto warm plates, lay two or three fish fingers alongside, spoon the crushed minted peas next to them, and finish with a generous dollop of tartare, a lemon wedge for squeezing, and a crack of black pepper over the lot.