Fish ’n chips are the perfect English food. Light, crispy batter, fish steamed to perfection inside. The thought of them is mouth watering; and, they’re so easy to make. Get ready.

I live near a fish ’n chips shop. It’s just a hole in the wall with an excellent reputation. TV chef Bobby Flay decided to challenge their fish. I saw him toss an egg in his batter, and I knew he would lose. My recipe is from a roadside seafood shack, fantastic, yet simple. The main thing is to get the very freshest fish. North Atlantic Codfish is my fave; haddock is an excellent second.

It’s daunting unless you separate the job into organized parts. Beyond the recipe, technique and organization must be considered. Visualize it in several stages: chips, fish, tartar sauce, coleslaw, asparagus, and dessert. Peaches are in season now, and they are irresistible. Peach dumplings with vanilla ice cream? Are you up for it? Okay, let’s go.

Imagine your table. First prepare your condiments. 

Tartar sauce: 2 TB tarragon vinegar, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp. coarse salt, pinch cayenne pepper, 1/3 cup finely chopped cornichons, 1 TB finely chopped shallots, 1 tsp. finely chopped capers, 1 TB finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, one cup mayonnaise. Combine the ingredients, and refrigerate. Keeps well for two days. Adjust the seasonings before serving.

Cole slaw: A tradition that doesn’t need to be heavy on your arteries. This version is light, delicious and low in fat. Core and slice your cabbage very thin, throw some carrot strips into a huge bowl. Toss in some raisins, celery seed, mustard, sugar, salt, pepper, paprika, fresh mint, and a dash of hot sauce (optional.) Now, instead of mayo, add a cup of buttermilk, and a quarter cup of cider vinegar. Mix well; let stand in the fridge for a few hours to give the buttermilk time to work on the cabbage. Taste it. You may want to correct the salt, vinegar, etc. I trust your judgment. So should you.

Asparagus: Hold each stalk near the base, and bend until it snaps, separating the tender part from the tough. For freshness, be sure to look for tightly closed tops. Avoid stems that are dry and hard, just as you do with artichokes. Drop the stalks into boiling, heavily salted water, and when they start to get limp, lift them out and at once dunk them into cold water. Drain them, blot dry, sprinkle with sea salt, crushed garlic, olive oil, and grill until brown marks start to appear. Sprinkle with fresh lemon juice, and serve alongside the fish. Do this ahead of time. They don’t need to be piping hot.

Another way my guests love asparagus is when I slice the stalk on the bias, three pieces per stalk. Then into a hot skillet, an ounce of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) a pinch of red pepper flakes, some smashed garlic and the asparagus pieces. Toss as you fry, remove the pan from the fire. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and ground pepper. Drizzle with more EVOO. This is a great ahead of time, Southern Italian dish. Serve on a platter with lots of lemon wedges

The Brits traditionally use malt vinegar on top of their fish, so get a bottle of it for the table. I would never dare to tell them how to eat their national dish. Would you tell a New Yorker how to fold his slice of pizza? Fish is fresher nowadays, and needs no cover up with strong vinegar. I much prefer fresh lemon or lime juice. Limes add so much to the flavor of fried fish. Malt vinegar adds lovely sparkle to the chips, or you can use the old standby, ketchup. Just don’t serve cold ketchup.

The chips: Peel and slice a few Idaho potatoes into 3/8” squares. Fill a wide skillet half full of vegetable or peanut oil. Bring it to low frying temperature 325F. When you add the potatoes to the oil, it shouldn’t bubble up too harshly. Listen for the sound. Gentle. Keep them moving; don’t add all at once. It lowers the oil temperature, makes ‘em greasy. When they are pale blond, remove and drain them on paper. Just before serving, they will be fried again at a higher temperature to attain perfect crispness.  Be sure to sprinkle sea salt on the fish and the potatoes at the second frying, straight from the oil. Most good cooks do this after deep frying anything, even Beignets, after which powdered sugar is rained on them.

Next, prep the fish. First, find the freshest cod fish filet, nice and thick. Rinse it in cold water and pat dry. Slice the fish into pieces approximately one inch by four. Set these aside.

Your batter can make or break you. The secret is enough baking powder and a light, tasty batter. Frying at the right, high temp will mean it doesn’t get oil soaked. One bottle of flavorful beer, optional water, 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. pepper, 1 TB paprika, and one generous TB of baking powder. Into a bowl, sift around a cup of flour with the other dry ingredients. Pour 2/3 of a bottle of beer into the flour, while stirring slowly with a spoon until you have a thin, not watery, smooth batter. If your batter is too thick, add some more beer (or water if you drank the beer,) a tablespoon at a time until you have a thin but not watery batter. You want the fish to be coated, but not goopy. Let the batter rest for at least 15 minutes at room temperature before use.

Spread a handful of flour on your board, sprinkle generously with paprika, salt and pepper, and chopped flat parsley. You will roll the fish in this to coat it, so the batter sticks to the fish.

Now, with your oil at 350F, dip the fish into the batter, coating it completely. Let the excess drip off, and right away, lay them gently into the hot vegetable oil. TIP: To avoid burning yourself, let the fish touch the oil for a few seconds to seal the batter, then lay them down so they fall away from, not toward you. Move each piece at once to be sure they don’t stick. Fry for a few minutes. Check the underside. The batter should be a deep honey color. Turn the fish over.  When they reach that same color on the other side, remove and set them down on paper towels. Sprinkle with sea salt as they come out of the oil. Let the fish rest.

Now you are ready to finish the chips. Raise the oil temp, add the half-fried chips, and let them crisp to a rich, honey color. Drain, sprinkle with sea salt, and serve alongside the fish. Place wedges of limes and lemons on the table, and urge your guests to use the citrus liberally

Did you think I would forget dessert? When peaches are ripe and fragrant, you just have to do justice to them. They deliver bliss. Let them sit for a day or so but not ever in the fridge. Their fragrance will tell you when they are ready. Amy does magic with her famous, incredible apple dumplings. She’s famous for them. This is my version but with peaches.

Peel and stone ripe peaches and cut them into large pieces. A few crushed pieces are fine. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon in a three to one ratio, some lemon zest, a very tiny pinch of salt, some melted butter, and a tablespoon or so of flour. Let them stand in the fridge. Open a can of very cold Pillsbury’s Grands biscuits and sprinkle some flour on your board. Roll each into a circle, working outward from the center. Lay each circle into a dish containing melted butter, sugar and cinnamon. Coat each side, then insert a heaping tablespoon of peaches, make a pocket, and seal the dough.

Bake in a hot oven on parchment paper until they turn golden. Remove from the oven, let cool to lukewarm. Have some vanilla ice cream at a scoop-able temperature, cut a slit in the bottom of each dumpling, and insert a nice lump of ice cream into each. Serve right away.

We are on Fire Island. Outdoor cooking is what we do best; outdoor dining is what we love. We have the best outdoors to do both. Use your grill, eat and cook outdoors.

My friends, the News will have just two more issues this season, hardly enough for me to share with you all that I want to. I write a cooking blog on the internet at www.fireislandcooks.blogspot.com. You can find me there all year long. Your comments are very welcome. Come visit me!

Happy, healthy cooking!  

Love, 

Michael