Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas mark 6. Put the chips in cold water and soak for 20 minutes.
Now bread the cod cheeks - add the flour to the bowl the cod cheeks are in, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and toss to coat well. Put the egg in a small bowl and lightly beat it, and put the panko breadcrumbs in another bowl. Dip each floured cod cheek into the beaten egg and then coat in the panko breadcrumbs and place on a clean plate. Once all the cod cheeks are coated in the breadcrumbs, place in the fridge until ready to fry.
When the 20 minutes soaking of the chips is up, drain them and then pat dry with kitchen roll. Put the dripping or fat in a large baking tray and heat in the oven for 5 minutes until very hot but not smoking.
Add the chips to the hot fat, toss to coat, then sprinkle over the polenta, season with salt and toss again. Roast for 40 to 50 minutes, turning every 10 minutes, until golden and crisp.
While the chips are cooking, make the tartar sauce (optional) – mix all of the ingredients together in a small serving bowl and set aside in the fridge.
When the chips have around 15 minutes left to cook, heat 2 tbsp of the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cod cheeks (if your frying pan is large enough, you should be able to fit them all in) and fry for 2 minutes on each side. When you turn them over after being cooked for the first 2 minutes, you might want to add the third tbsp of vegetable oil and then baste the fish with the extra oil to cook the sides, if the cheeks are quite large or deep. Place the cooked fish on a clean plate with kitchen roll to drain.
Serve the cod cheeks with the chips, tartar sauce (optional) and a green salad or, we like peas and sweetcorn on the side…enjoy!