Fish & chips with McCain

The school routine is well and truly back. The house is a little quieter in the day, but in a credit/debit style the noise seems amplified come home time. The excitement of the day; the rush to get the detail out. Sometimes it’s just so much more important to tell Mummy about how someone jumped in a puddle and got their trousers and shirt wet rather than comment on what part of the curriculum was covered off that day. Come to think of it, pretty much the only things I remember from primary school are the contents of my lunchbox, skipping and making Christingle’s out of wrinkly oranges. Oxbow lakes and Tudor kings? Not so much.

And before you know it – it’s teatime. Teatime in our house, (as I’m sure it is in yours) is such a busy time, it seems to pass by in a flash – one minute full plates, the next they’re empty and being flung into the sink. Teatime is the perfect opportunity for us to spend proper time together as a family and a break from poring over their homework.

With this in mind, my boys have been helping with the ideas for teatime as well as the actual cooking. So this week, I’m taking part in the McCain Kids Teatime Takeover (#KidsTeatimeTakeover ) where every Thursday evening I swap roles with the kids and get them involved in making tea. Sounds like a win-win to me.

They’ve even been talking about teatime at breakfast; possibly a first! Their first idea for tea was for fish and chips – and they raided my herb and spice drawer to make it.

Fish & chips

Serves 4 children or 1 – 2 adults and 2 children, scale up or down accordingly

Ingredients:

• 500g McCain 5% Fat Rustic Chips
• 2 tilapia fillets, skin removed (or any boneless, skinless fillets)
• 1 free range egg
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp paprika
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 200g frozen petit pois

Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 210°C/Gas Mark 7.

Place the McCain 5% Fat Rustic Chips onto a baking tray in one even layer and bake in the oven for between 16 – 19 minutes, turning occasionally.

In the meantime get making the fish coating. Remove the fish from the fridge, crack the egg into a bowl, add a tiny pinch of salt and use a fork to mix. Then mix together the rest of the salt, flour, thyme, paprika, pepper and nutmeg in a bowl.

Dip the fish fillets (which you can cut first if you wish) into the egg first, then coat in the flour mixture and place on a plate ready for frying.

Five minutes before the chips are ready, heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Sprinkle a little of the spare flour mixture in the oil and if it starts to sizzle immediately then place both fillets into the pan, very gently. Be careful as hot oil spits. (At this point I ask the boys to set the table for me rather than helping, hot oil and kids aren’t a combination I find restful!)

Fry for a couple of minutes on each side until golden yellowy brown (rapeseed oil imparts a lovely golden yellow hue when anything is fried in it) and then remove from the pan and drain on a sheet of kitchen paper. Boil or heat the peas in the microwave according to the packet instructions. Serve the healthier fish, chips and peas, possibly with a little tartare sauce on the side.

Get the monthly newsletter...

and subscribe to get all recipes straight to your inbox!