Gluten Free Fish and Chips

Gluten free - dairy free - sugar free - nut free
    I have a few standard meals that I cook regularly, that I don't have a recipe for, that I find easy to make, and that just simply can't be beaten for a completely satisfying home-dining experience. My list includes Roast Chicken and Veges, Bolognaise, Teryaki Stir Fry, Mexican Mince, and this....Fish and Chips. So, it's time to write down some recipes and share the love with all of you.
     If it's not too big of a claim, I believe I may have mastered the art of home-oven-chip-making. The secrets include a decent amount of oil (of course!), leaving the skins on, and smashing them up half way through cooking so you get lots of surface area to form super crispy bits. The fish is a pretty standard crumbing procedure, but with gluten free crumbs.   You can blend up your own crumbs from bread, or I like the Orgran brand corn or rice crumbs- the crisp up really nicely!
     As usual, this ever-efficient mum cooks in bulk and freezes for later! I buy 1.5kg of fish fillets for this and it makes three meals for the four of us. That's two easy meals that can be pulled out of the freezer and thrown in the oven on a day I'm too busy to cook.
    Don't forget to serve it with some home made Tartare Sauce (find my recipe here).

Ingredients

• 1kg boneless firm fish fillets (I often use hoki/blue grenadier or barramundi)
• 1 cup gluten free flour such as rice flour, coconut flour, or corn starch (plus extra if this is not enough)
• 2-3 eggs
• milk (any will do, dairy or non)
• 1 cup gluten free bread crumbs or rice crumbs or corn crumbs (plus extra if this is not enough)
• 2 teaspoons each dried dill and parsley
• salt and pepper
• 1 very large or two small potatoes per person
• oil: I prefer coconut oil or duck fat (yes, don't be afraid of saturated fat!!).  Otherwise, use your favourite frying oil.

Method

• Prepare the chips first and get them in the oven, then work on the fish.
• Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
• Pour oil into a shallow baking tray or cookie sheet with small edges. It needs to generously cover the whole sheet.
• Scrub potatoes and make sure they're clean. If you hate eating potato skin, peel it off, but I LOVE the extra crunch that comes from leaving them on.
• Cut the chips into long wedges.
• Carefully place wedges on tray, making sure they all lay flat and do not overlap. Grind some salt and pepper over them all.
• Place in oven for 30 minutes while preparing the fish.
• Cut each fish fillet into your desired sized pieces.
• Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
• Lay out three dinner plates. On the first, place your flour. On the second, crack and whisk your eggs together with a splash of milk (this just makes the eggs go further). On the third plate, place your bread or rice crumbs, generous amounts of freshly ground salt and pepper and a couple of teaspoons each of dill and parsley (or more of one if you don't have both).
• I like to wear food preparation gloves when doing the crumbing so the clean up of my fingers afterward is much easier!
• Dip each piece of fish into the flour, then the egg, then the crumbs. Make sure each coat completely covers the whole piece. You will probably need to top up the plates with more flour, egg and crumbs. I just start with less as I prefer to add more when needed than waste lots of left-overs.
• Lay the fish on the baking paper, making sure there is a small gap between each piece. Spray generously with an oil spray (I use coconut oil or olive oil spray),or drizzle with olive oil.
• After the minute of cooking the chips, remove them from the oven and and turn each wedge over with tongs or an egg-flip
• With a potato masher or fork, gently push down on the wedges, slightly cracking the edges and letting some of the soft inner potato come out. Drizzle a tiny bit more oil over the top of the wedges and grind salt and pepper over the top again.
• Place the fish pieces in the oven and return the chips to the oven for 20 minutes
• After 20 minutes, check your thickest piece of fish to make sure it's cooked through. If not, leave in for a couple more minutes. Remove from oven. If the chips have reached your preferred level of browning and crispiness, remove from oven. If not, leave in oven until done.
• Serve immediately with some yummy  home made Tartare Sauce and lemon wedges.
  
• Place any left over fish in a freezer-safe container with a tight lid and freeze until required. To re-heat, place frozen fish pieces in a preheated oven at 200 degrees celcius for 20-30 minutes, until heated through, or heat in a flat sandwich / focaccia press.