Fish and Chips

UPDATE: I've just seen on Channel 4's website that Cookalong Live is now a series!!!! I wish I lived in the UK.

The story behind this is actually quite convoluted and I've noticed that my last two posts have been quite rambling, so I'll keep this one more to the point of food.

Long story short, I found a copy of Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong Live to watch online and I thought it was the best idea. Did you know that apparently Gordon and Channel Nine have come to an agreement to film one for Australian TV? It's very exciting! Anyway, I loved watching the UK version and I really wanted to try the recipes. I hadn't planned on trying them on this particular day but the opportunity was too good to pass up.

I bought some lovely whiting fillets from the fish counter of a supermarket because I was too lazy to drive to the fishmonger. Even worse, they were on sale and only display stock was left. The food snob in me was beaten down by the lazy person and I bought the cheap supermarket fish. The food snob had to pull its head in though, because the fish turned out to be beautiful and fresh and tasty.

As I've said before, DD doesn't like seafood. He also hates the smell of it so I do try to not cook with it for me (who adores seafood) when he is around. This time I had a craving which couldn't be ignored, so I tried to cook it secretly so he didn't know. As it turned out, the fish was so fresh that there was no fishy smell and he didn't have a problem with it, which is great!

The fish I lightly coated in seasoned flour and pan fried. Simple, but very tasty.

The chips are Gordon Ramsay's chilli chips from Cookalong Live. Very easy too. Keep the skin on the potatoes, boil them for a bit to soften, toss them with oil, salt, pepper and chilli flakes then put them into the oven on a really hot tray. They were perfect.

It was a simple lunch, but it was quite possibly the best fish and chips ever.

Chilli Chips
from Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong Live Special

4 large Desiree potatoes
2 tbs grapeseed oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a generous pinch of chilli flakes

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celcius.

Fill a large pan with boiling water, add a pinch of salt and place over a high heat. Cut each potato in half lengthways and then place the cut side down onto the board. Cut each half potato into 1cm thick wedges.

Add the potato wedges to the boiling water, bring to the boil again and boil for 3 minutes. Drain in a colander and then place the colander sitting over the pan, off the heat, to allow the wedges to dry further. Add the oil, salt, pepper and chilli flakes and toss well to coat.

Tip the wedges into a large baking tray (big enough so that the wedges sit in one layer so they crisp up evenly) and shake the tray until they are evenly spread out. Place the tray in the oven and cook for 30 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Shake the tray once or twice during cooking to ensure even cooking.