Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food (15 page)

When the potatoes are completely dry, heat enough vegetable oil for deep-frying in a deep-fat fryer or heavy-based saucepan to 180°C. Working in batches, if necessary, add
the potato slices and deep-fry for 2–3 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain well on kitchen paper. Season immediately with the smoky bacon powder
and serve.

This snack needs no introduction! This recipe will make enough for a whole gang of your mates. Wash them down with a good pint of ale.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Cut the pork skin into 7½cm pieces. Don’t worry, they don’t need to be exact. Place them in a large non-metallic
bowl, add the salt and vinegar, mix together thoroughly and leave to stand for 1–2 minutes.

Transfer the pork skin pieces to a wire rack in a roasting tray. Place the tray in the oven and roast the pieces of pork skin for 10–15 minutes until crispy and crunchy.
Watch them closely, as they might even take longer. The better the quality of the pork skin, the quicker they will cook. Leave to cool completely, then serve. These will keep crispy for 2–3
days in an airtight container.

(left to right): Spicy roasted nuts (
here
); Pork scratchings (
here
); Pickled quail’s eggs with curried onion sauce (
here
).

Sometimes the simple classics are the best. Take your time to get this right and you will have a world-class dish! Halibut is the ideal fish to use, but any good quality white
flat fish will be fine. You need the best quality brand of frozen petis pois for this recipe. Anything else will give a grainy texture – so don’t skimp on your peas! At my pub we always
serve our fish and chips with round chips simply because they look more interesting.

Serves 4

For the chips

For the tartare sauce

For the beer batter

For the pea purée

To make thick chips, top and tail each potato, then use an apple corer to cut out the centres. Remember, we are making round chips here. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to
the boil over a high heat. Add the potatoes, return the water to the boil and boil for about 5 minutes until tender, but still holding their shapes. Use a slotted spoon to remove them from the
water and leave them to drain. Dry well on a wire rack.

When the potatoes are completely dry, heat enough oil for deep-frying in a deep-fat fryer or heavy-based saucepan until it reaches 140°C. Add the potatoes and fry for
8–10 minutes until the oil stops bubbling, which means all the moisture has been removed. Use a slotted spoon to remove the potatoes from the oil, return them to the wire rack and leave to
cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the tartare sauce. Place the egg yolks, Dijon mustard and white wine vinegar in a food processor and blend until smooth. With the motor still running, slowly add
the oil until the mixture emulsifies and thickens. Stir in the remaining ingredients and season. Cover and keep in the fridge until needed.

To make the pea purée, melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Add the shallots and sea salt and fry, stirring occasionally, for at least 5 minutes until softened,
but not coloured. Add the chicken stock and mint and bring to the boil. Add the peas and sugar, return the stock to the boil and boil for 5–6 minutes until the peas are tender. Strain the
peas and shallots over a bowl to catch the liquid, then transfer them to a blender. Add 2 tablespoons of
the cooking liquid and blend until smooth, but not too thin. Adjust
the seasoning with table salt, if necessary, then set aside and keep hot.

To make the batter, mix the egg whites and beer together until fluffy. Mix the flour and bicarbonate of soda together in a large bowl and add the egg-white mix.

Just before you are ready to fry the fish, fry the potatoes for a second time. Reheat the oil to 180°C. Add the potatoes to the fryer again and fry for 2–3 minutes
until crispy and golden brown. Drain well on kitchen paper, sprinkle with salt and keep hot in a low oven.

Reheat the oil to 180°C, if necessary. Dip the fish into the batter, letting any excess drip back into the bowl, then add to the oil and fry for 3–5 minutes until
crispy and golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper. Keep the fried fillets warm in the low oven until they are all fried, but do not cover them with kitchen paper. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and
serve immediately with the chips, pea purée and tartare sauce and lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Fish and chips with pea purée and tartare sauce

I use salmon, smoked haddock and prawns in this pie, but you can swap them about for whichever fish you fancy. The puff pastry gives a nice crust with a contrasting texture. I
prefer this to the more usual mashed potato topping, which I think gives a fish pie the same consistency all the way through.

Serves 4

Rub the insides of a 1.5-litre pie dish with 50g of the butter, then set aside.

Melt 50g of the remaining butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Add the leeks and a pinch of salt and fry, stirring occasionally, for at least 5 minutes until softened, but not
coloured. Tip the leeks into the bottom of the pie dish and leave to one side.

Mix the stock of your choice and the milk together in the washed pan and bring to the boil. In a separate pan, melt the remaining 40g butter over a medium heat. Add the flour and
stir for 2–3 minutes to cook out the raw flavour. Slowly add the boiling stock and milk mix, whisking constantly, to make a thick sauce. Season with the lemon zest, nutmeg and salt and
pepper, then set aside and leave to cool completely. When the sauce is cool, stir in the parsley and tarragon.

Scatter the salmon and smoked haddock over the leeks in the pie dish, then top with the prawns. Pour the cooled sauce over the top.

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface until it is ½cm thick. Cut into strips long enough to reach from each side of the pie dish, each about 1cm wide.
Brush the rim of the pie dish with the egg mix and arrange evenly spaced strips of puff pastry in one direction. Next, interweave more strips through the already stuck-down strips, going under and
over to create a lattice pattern. Take your time, because this can be quite tricky. Brush pastry strips with the remaining egg glaze, then place the pie in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up
to 6 hours.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 and place the fish pie on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the pie for
25–30 minutes until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily, the pastry is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling. Serve straight away. With salad or peas? Try both!

This dish tastes amazing. It is a bit of a ‘campfire’ dish, perfect for feeding friends, that leaves you feeling content and happy. It has a Spanish feel to it, but
you can use different pulses and different flavoured sausages, if you like – try butter beans and Toulouse sausages or white haricot beans and merguez sausages.