INGREDIENTS
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
8 tablespoon whipping cream
2 egg whites
4 boneless cod fillets (about 100g each)
2 teaspoons of chopped fresh parsley to garnish
100g puy lentils
700mls chicken or vegetable stock or water
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp finely diced onion
2 tbsp finely diced carrot
2 tbsp finely diced leek
2 tbsp finely diced celery
2 tbsp finely chopped potato
6 tbsp sherry vinegar
100g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
For the spiced flour
8 tbsp plain white flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp garlic pepper
1 tsp salt
Recipe continues
METHOD
First cook the lentils. Rinse them in plenty of cold water then put them into a small pan with the stock and the salt. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the diced vegetables and cook for a further 10-15 minutes or until everything is cooked. And the vinegar and whisk in the diced butter. Keep warm. If you need to plan ahead, the lentils can be kept for a day or two in the fridge. If you are doing his, do not add the butter until you reheat the lentils just before serving.
Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 190c. Sift the ingredients for the spiced flour together. In a small bowl mix the cream with the egg whites. Dredge the cod fillets in the spiced flour. Massage the fish in the cream mixtures then dredge them in the flour again. Repeat if you prefer a slightly thicker crust. Carefully drop two of the cod fillets into the hot oil and cook for about 4 minutes until they are crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper. Keep warm while you cook the remaining fillets.
To serve, spoon generous amounts of lentils onto warm serving plates and top each serving with a cod fillet. Finish with a sprinkling of parsley.