Black Sheep Beer Battered Fish and Chips

It is National Chip Week (17th to 23rd February), but here at the Black Sheep Brewery, they are a firm favourite all year round. If you can’t make it to your local chippy (or our bar & bistro!) why not try this Black Sheep Beer Battered Fish and Chip recipe from our chef, Derek Ballantyne.

Ingredients

• Four haddock fillets
• Cooking fat
• Vegetable oil
• 170g plain flour
• One teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• A pint of Black Sheep Best Bitter/Golden Sheep
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• Salt & pepper
• 450g peeled and chipped potatoes

Method

• Heat the fat up in a chip pan or a deep fat fryer.
• Peel the potatoes and cut into large, thick chips. Then rinse and dry them using kitchen towel.
• Fry the chips in the oil until soft but not coloured, which should take around three minutes.
• Drain and shake the chips well and then set to one side.
• Put some flour onto a plate and coat the fish fillets thoroughly with the flour.
• To make the Best Bitter batter, put the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and pepper into a bowl then gradually add the Best Bitter. Stop when you have a thick coating of batter. Whisk to remove any lumps to make a smooth batter. Add the lemon juice, then mix again thoroughly.
• Take one fillet of haddock at a time, holding it by its end and swirling it around the batter until it has a good coating, then plunge it into the hot fat immediately.
• As soon as the first fillet has started to crisp, add your other fillets one at a time, taking out the first ones as they cook. This should take 6 -10 minutes depending on the thickness of fillet. Place onto a baking tray and keep warm in the oven.
• While the fish is in the oven, add your chips to the hot fat again and cook until crispy and golden in colour.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with tartare sauce, mushy peas and a pint of Best Bitter.