Healthy Fish and Chips for the Whole Family

Healthy fish and chips.  The mark of a good recipe is when you make it twice before posting it!

We should all eat more omega 3.  One of the best sources of it is oily fish but that can be a tough sell to adults let alone kids.  Mackerel can be fantastic and delicious, especially grilled on a barbecue but can be strong tasting and a lot of people aren't all that keen on the bones.

I introduced a way of cooking mackerel recently for reluctant adults, now I thought I'd look at kids.  Mackerel is such a well flavoured fish, it can stand up to some really strong flavours and it goes fantastically well with mustard.

The best ideas come to me at 5:30am when I'm lying in bed wondering why I'm not still asleep!  One morning, I had a bit of a brainwave; why not use mayonnaise as a way to adhere a coating?  If I used mackerel I could also mix in some mustard... and so an idea was born!

As I was starting to prepare this I had a sudden thought, why not make this a healthy fish, chips and peas dish?  Why not indeed!

Mackerel goujons with home made oven chips and peas - serves 1 adult with a big appetite or 1 adult and 1 toddler

Ingredients

1 Mackerel fillet, defrosted if frozen (fresh not smoked)
2 tbsp Mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
20g, 3/4 oz Rice Krispies or own brand equivalent
20g, 3/4 oz  Plain / all purpose flour
Spray oil

Potatoes
1 medium to large baking potato
1 tbsp olive oil

To serve
Cooked frozen peas
2 tbsp Mayonnaise mixed with 1 tsp dijon mustard (or plain mayo or tartare sauce if you prefer)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6.

Wash the potato then cut (skin on) into thin sticks (to your preference).  Toss in the olive oil and put on a baking tray.  Lining the tray with non stick baking paper will help prevent them sticking.

Skin the fish if liked.  Cut the fish into strips about the thickness of your ring finger.

Mix 2 tbsp mayo with 1 tsp mustard.  In another bowl, crush the rice krispies and mix with the flour.

Put the 'chips' in the oven as they need about 5 mins longer than the fish (depending on the age of the potato and the thickness).

Now it's time to get messy.  Line a baking tray with non stick paper, then dunk each mackerel strip in the mayo mix then the rice krispies mix then lay on the tray.

Once done, wash your hands as you probably won't be able to see them!  Then spray the mackerel with spray oil and put in the oven for approx 15 minutes or until the chips are cooked and browned and the fish is cooked through.  Give the chips a bit of a jiggle now and again to make sure they're cooking evenly.

Serve with the serving suggestions above.  I had mustard mayo, my 3 year old son had "white ketchup" (i.e. plain mayonnaise) to dunk into.  He tried but said my mustard mayo made his tongue tingle too much but he did love the fish.  It was a real hit!

Make it Thrifty

Look out for frozen mackerel fillets; they're often in the freezer section for less than £1 a fillet which is fantastic value.  Also try using own brand rice krispies and value / smart price mayonnaise, mixed with the mustard, you'd never know the difference.