As will become apparent as time goes on, I absolutely love salmon, trout and oily fish in general. Smoked, baked, seared, steamed or sashimi I love it all! I could have made this dish with salmon and I dare say I will in the not too distant future but I wanted to try the local rainbow trout “trucha asalmonada” and I was not disappointed. I got the inspiration for this recipe from a Gordon Ramsey video on youtube where he does crispy salmon with crushed new potatoes mixed with spring onions and white crab meat (I’ll definitely be trying that at some point, proper lush!) and some overnight oven dried tomatoes. Both versions are super light and absolutely delicious. Super quick, light and very healthy to boot. To accompany, I didn’t this time around but if you have the foresight please enjoy this with an ice cold glass of white. If I’d to pick one off the top of my head I’d probably say a Macon-Villages would do just nicely. What a treat!

Serves 4

Prep time: 15 mins (plus a couple hours for the cucumbers to chill in advance)
Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Fish:
– 4 rainbow trout fillets (or salmon or sea trout)

Potatoes:
– 250g new potatoes (peeled)
– 6 chive sprigs

Cucumbers:
– 3 large cucumbers (peeled and deseeded)
– 1 small or 1/2 a large onion (finely sliced)
– 4 sprigs of dill (leaves only)
– 1/2 cup white vinegar
– 1/2 cup water
– 1/2 cup granulated sugar (white or light brown)
– pinch of sea salt

To hand:
-Good olive oil
– Sea salt
– Black pepper

Method:

1. At least a couple of hours in advance mix all the cucumber ingredients in a bowl, cover and leave in the fridge to let the flavours develop
2. Boil the potatoes for 15-20 mins or until just giving. You want them to remain firm but cooked through so don’t over do it as we’re looking for crushed, not mashed.
3. While the potatoes are boiling lightly score the skin of the trout so it doesn’t curl when it hits the pan, drizzle some olive oil and season with salt and pepper
4. Drain potatoes and leave to cool for 5 mins
5. Snip the chives in with a pair of scissors and gently crush the potatoes with the back of a fork
6. Add a nice glug of olive oil, a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper and gently mix with the fork to maintain the rough texture
7. On med-high, heat a heavy bottom frying pan with a splash of olive oil
8. When just smoking and no more add the trout fillets skin side down and leave to cook untouched until the fish is cooked 2/3 of the way up
9. Flip with a fish slice and finish on the flesh side until golden and cooked through
10. Serve the trout skin side up on a bed of the crushed potatoes with a generous side of cucumbers
11. enjoy!