Tonight we fancied fish – a simple fish supper. We are blessed to live a short drive from a great little fishing harbour; so we dodged the rain drops and popped out to see what looked good. The in laws are in situ at the moment and the Father in Law is what you would call a Fuss Pot! With this in mind we ignored the delicate little fillets of lemon sole and ray wings and went straight for the haddock.

I wanted a light golden crumb, some fried potatoes (which got a bit soft and were rechristened as smashed potatoes), salad and minted peas – so that’s what we had.

Crumbing fish is really simple, you need eggs, flour, seasoning and breadcrumbs. Occasionally I might mix some cous cous through the bread crumb for a bit of crunch – but I gave it a miss tonight on account of the aforementioned Fuss Pot.

If the breadcrumbs are very course, blitz them in the food processor. Pop them in a dish which is wide enough for the fish fillets. Beat two eggs and set aside in a similar sized bowl. Mix the flour with salt and pepper in another similar sized bowl and whisk through remove any lumps.

Coat the fish in the seasoned flour, then the egg, then the crumb. Put it straight into a pan with a little butter and sunflower oil.

After 3 – 4 minutes turn the fish over gently and cook for another few minutes. Transfer to a baking tray and finish it off in the oven for another 5 – 10 minutes until golden brown.

Alternatively, if you want to glam it up a bit you could try using panko breadcrumbs with lemon seasoning to top coat the fish.

You’ll need:

• 4 fresh fish fillets
• 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs
• The zest of 1/2 a lemon
• Handful of washed and chopped parsley or chives
• 1 dessert spoon of melted butter
• About 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise
• Seasoning

Mix the breadcrumbs, lemon, herbs and butter together in a bowl. Evenly spread mayonnaise on one side of the fish and spoon the crumb over, pressing down to stick to the mayo. Cook the fish for around 10 minutes on a baking tray in a hot oven (around 190° –  200°) until the fish is cooked and the coating is golden brown. Serve with a wedge of lemon. Yum.