British cooking:

I enjoy eating in Britain because they have very fine foreign restaurants. But I rarely eat British cuisine – I am just not a meat pie or scones kind of guy. But there is one dish with genuine British roots that I cannot resist – good old fashion fish and chips. I have a slight twist – I like a beer batter crust on the fish, and I usually eat the fish with aioli instead of tartar sauce (but don't forget malt vinegar for the fish too).

Ingredients (serves 6):

• 2 cups – all purpose flour
• 1 12-ounce bottle of dark beer (e.g., dark lager or porter)
• 1 teaspoon – minced dried onion
• 2 pounds – cod or related white fish like orange roughy – cut the fish into one-inch wide strips about 5 inches long
• Salt and pepper
• Canola oil – enough to cover a pan with 1 to 1.5 inches of oil
• Malt vinegar for the fish
• Ketchup for the chips (you can eat them plain; I just enjoy ketchup on my fries).
• 4 – large russet potatoes (about 3 pounds), scrub the potatoes and leave the skins on. Cut into strips about ½ inch in thickness (the length of the fries can be as long as the potato – but I like relatively thin fries). Do not cut the potatoes until you are ready to add them to the oil.

Preparation:

Place 2 cups of flour in a bowl and gradually whisk in the beer to form the batter. Add the dried onions and let stand at room temperature while you are cooking the chips.

Beer batter

Add salt and pepper to both sides of the fish and set aside.

2 pounds of cod

Heat the oil to 360 degrees F and then add the chips (be careful not to burn yourself when adding the potatoes).

Oil in pan

Cook until crisp and golden brown stirring as necessary (about 10 to 15 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain – add salt (tent with aluminum foil to keep warm).

Chips

Chips nearly done

Once you have completed the chips, heat the oil to 375 degrees F. Coat the fish in the batter and add to the heated oil. Cook until the fish is done and it is golden brown turning as necessary (about 10 to 15 minutes).

Fish cooking

Transfer the fish to a paper towel to drain and then serve with the chips. I recommend malt vinegar and aioli sauce for the fish and ketchup for the chips.

Bon appétit!