Recipes: Smoked trout fish cakes | Seared fillet of trout with lentils in light mustard sauce

Smoked trout fish cakes. Serves 2-4

Ingredients

200g hot smoked trout, any bones removed

300g potatoes, peeled and chopped into pieces

3 tbps finely chopped curly parsley

½ tsp salt

Good grind of black pepper

2 tbsps sifted plain flour

Approximately 100g white breadcrumbs

50g butter

Splash of sunflower oil

For the sauce

2 tbsps mayonnaise

1 tbsps crème fraiche

Grated zest of half a small unwaxed lemon

2 tbsps finely chopped walnuts

2 good tsps grated horseradish (not sauce) from a jar or 4 from fresh root

Method

Set oven to 200C fan

Put the potatoes in a pan and cover them with cold water. Bring them up to the boil cooking for 10-15 minutes or until totally softened – a little overcooking is good. Drain and allow to stand until cool and dry.

After having chopped the walnuts, gently toast them in a dry pan swirling them continuously, taking care not to burn, until they turn a shade or two darker and have a lovely toasted smell and then allow to cool. Combine all the other sauce ingredients, stir in the walnuts and leave to one side until fishcakes are ready.

Flake the trout into pieces into a bowl; add the chopped parsley, a good grind of black pepper. Add the potatoes, breaking them up as you add them to the trout. Combine everything well and season with a little salt to taste.

Fashion the cakes into a pastry cutter mould of approximately 6-7 centimetres. When forming the cakes they will need pressed a little and compacted to prevent them falling apart.

Put the flour on a plate, the breadcrumbs on another and beat the two eggs in a bowl. Flour both the flat sides of each fishcake, do not flour the edges. Now very carefully dip the floured sides in the egg and then lastly in the breadcrumbs, repeat until all cakes are made.

Put a small frying pan on the hob and melt 50g of butter combined with a splash of sunflower oil. The cake should sizzle immediately when it enters the pan. However, do not cook them too fast and burn the breadcrumbs; regulate the heat accordingly.

Sauté the fishcakes for 4 minutes or so until a deep golden colour, turn over and fry for 2 minutes, then put the cakes in the oven for 6 minutes.

Serve with watercress and the sauce

Seared fillet of trout with lentils in light mustard sauce. Serves 2

Ingredients

2 x 6oz fillet pieces of trout, skin on

2 x 6 cherry tomatoes attached to vine if possible

Drizzle of olive oil

Salt

50g lentils

50g butter

1 medium banana shallot peeled and diced very finely or two small ones

1 medium carrot peeled and diced finely

1 stick of celery diced finely

1 clove garlic finely chopped

Pinch of dried thyme

1 bay leaf

120ml white wine

400ml fish stock

1 generous tsp Dijon mustard

1 generous tsp wholegrain mustard

50-75ml double cream

2 tsps very finely chopped parsley

½ tsp very finely chopped tarragon

1 tsp flour

Method

Set oven on at 220c fan

Place the tomatoes, keeping them attached to the stalk on a small baking tray and generously drizzle with oil and salt. Cook for 15 minutes until their skins are withered and beginning to burn. This should be done 15 minutes before serving – adjust timings as required.

Put the lentils in a small pan, cover with water, bring them up to a gently simmer and cook for 30 minutes or so or until tender. Drain and leave to one side.

Sweat the shallots in the butter with the carrot and celery, pinch of dry thyme and bay leaf. Very gently sauté for 6-8 minutes or until the shallots are very tender, only at this point stir in the garlic and cook for a further minute. Tip in the white wine and reduce until it appears to have totally evaporated. Now pour in the fish stock and reduce until you only have about 3-4 tablespoons left of liquid. Add the drained lentils. Stir in the mustards, followed by the cream, season to taste, put to one side.

Lower the trout fillet skin side down into the flour mixed with salt combined on a plate. Pat off any excess flour.

Get a small frying pan nice and hot, add 25g butter with a small splash of sunflower oil and lower in the trout fillets skin side down; it should sizzle immediately. Rest a small side plate on top of the fillet to help the skin crisp. Remove the plate after 4 minutes. When you have about 2 fingers width of the top of the raw fillet showing, flip it over for 30 seconds, before removing from the frying pan. The trout fillet should be only just cooked on the inside.

Reheat your lentils, stir through all your herbs and spoon the lentils into the middle of the plate, put the cherry tomatoes on top with the stalk still attached and slide the trout fillet on top crispy skin facing upwards and enjoy