MAXINE GORDON makes a family dinner in minutes.

XANTHE Clay is a cook in a hurry – which is why I love her new book, 10 Minutes To Table (Mitchell Beazley, £14.99).

Like me, when she comes home from work, she switches on the oven and the kettle – before taking her coat off.

Xanthe, a cookery writer for the Daily Telegraph, says her recipes can all be achieved in ten minutes or less. This is food in haste, but with plenty of taste, covering all the bases from meat and fish to poultry and veg.

I tried her posh fish fingers and mushy peas, but added potatoes too, by following another Xanthe trick: cut them into 1cm slices and cook in boiling water.

The trick to cooking quickly is being organised and focused. The result was speedy – and delicious.

Crisp fish with minted mushy peas

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter
375g (13oz) frozen peas
about 400g (14oz) white fish fillet, skinless and boneless (Pollock or Marine Stewardship Council certified sustainable cod)
2 tbsp plain flour
1 egg
4 tbsp breadcrumbs
olive oil spray
sprig or mint
2 lemon quarters.

1. Put kettle on to boil. Heat grill to high. Put a pan on the stove and add the butter and half-teacup of boiling water. Add the peas, cover and give a good shake. Cook over a medium-high heat while you prepare the fish.

2. Cut the fish into long fat fingers. Mix the flour with a good pinch of salt and plenty of pepper and toss the fish in it. Beat the egg lightly with one tbsp of water. Toss the fish pieces into the egg, then, one by one, dip into the breadcrumbs, turning each piece so that it is well coated.

Place on the grill tray, spray with oil and grill for two minutes, until golden brown. Turn, spray again, and grill for two minutes more, until cooked through.

3. While the fish is cooking, chop the mint leaves. Give the peas a good stir and check they are hot through. Remove the lid to boil off most of the liquid. With a hand blender, blitz to a rough purée, taste, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the mint.

4. Serve the fish with a good dollop of pea purée and the lemon quarters.