Jamie Oliver makes a cheap classic for £2.15 per person
Jamie Oliver makes a cheap classic for £2.15 per person
In this week’s episode of Jamie Oliver’s television show, Jamie’s £1 Wonders and Money Saving Meals, the celebrity chef put his own budget-friendly spin on a classic British meal. He said his “expression of a fish and chip dinner” will “make you happy.”
The Channel 4 programme, as its name suggests, teaches Brits about ideas for delicious recipes that can be cooked at home on a budget. Last week saw Jamie’s cheap recipe for piccalilli pork pies go down a treat.
Fish and chips provides the perfect comfort meal for many, and this week Jamie Oliver showed viewers an easy way to make it at home, and for £2.15 per person. He included a “few little twists” and his tips and tricks to save some money, including an “epic spin on chips” and a “cheeky tip to get free vinegar.”
Recipe for Jamie’s easy fish and chips
This easy fish and chips recipe serves two people, including Jamie’s personal take on bar-marked spuds, pickle ketchup & minty peas.
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6
2. Scrub 400g potatoes, then cut into one cm thick slices. Get a griddle pan really hot, then cook the potatoes for two minutes on each side, or until bar-marked, turning with tongs. If you don’t have a griddle pan, a regular frying pan works fine.
3. Meanwhile, use a peeler to strip the lemon zest into a large roasting tray, then peel, squash and add a whole garlic clove. If you have any, strip in some rosemary leaves and scrunch everything together with one tablespoon of olive oil. Toss the potatoes into the tray and roast for 20 to 30 minutes, or until tender.
4. To make some pickle ketchup, place eight large pickled gherkins gherkins in a food processor, along with half of their pickling juice. Tear in some dill and blitz until smooth. Taste, then season to perfection and dollop one tablespoon on each of your plates, pouring the rest back into the jar and placing in the fridge for future meals, where it will keep for up to seven days.
5. Boil the kettle. Place 400g frozen peas in a frying pan, cover with boiling kettle water and simmer on a medium-high heat until cooked through, then drain and place in the food processor (there’s no need to clean it). Tear in some mint leaves, blitz to your desired consistency, then season to perfection and keep warm.
6. Quickly wipe out the frying pan, place it on a medium heat, then pour in a thin layer of vegetable oil.
7. Crack one egg into a bowl, whisk 250g of plain flour, 1 heaped teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 330ml of beer until nice and shiny – the texture should be like semi-whipped double cream (i.e. it should stick to whatever you’re coating). Dust each fish fillet in a little of the extra flour, then dip into the batter and allow any excess to drip off.
8. Holding one end, gently lower the fish into the oil one by one, working carefully so you don’t get splashed. Cook for six minutes, or until the fish is cooked through and the batter is golden and crisp, turning regularly, then remove to kitchen paper to drain.
9. Loosen the leftover batter with a little oil until it drips off the spoon, then drizzle it in webs into the hot oil to make scraps.
10. Sprinkle the fish with an extra pinch of cayenne pepper and serve with the bar-marked chips, minty peas, pickle ketchup and lemon wedges, for squeezing over. Splash a little extra gherkin juice from the jar onto the chips, if you like, and tuck in!
Jamie said: “Keep it simple, but big on flavour and it will make you happy.” He described the recipe as “joyful, exciting, colourful, cooking” with this fish which was “soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.”
Jamie’s £1 Wonders and Money Saving Meals is showing every Monday at 8pm on Channel 4.
