Looking at the calendar this morning gave me a true shock: how are we at the end of July already? Days and weeks are slipping away from me lately - I realised, it had been a couple of weeks since I tested and refined my July recipe for all our Spurtle readers. So, I decided today was the time to strap myself to a chair and finally type it all up- it is a good one!
Despite this summer not having been a particularly warm one so far (I still have my fingers crossed!), I seem to naturally tend to swap out my meat intake in favour of more fish. I find this allows me to create lighter and more refreshing dinners, with a healthy serving of vitamins, iron and potassium. As usual, I tried to develop a recipe which features a seasonal ingredient - in this case two lovely filets of rainbow trout. Trout fishing in Scotland is considered at its best from the end of May to the end of August - with June & July being particularly good months. Despite rainbow trout being a native Pacific specie, it was first introduced in Britain in 1884; if you prefer something more autochthonous, I would suggest to swap the rainbow for brown or sea trout. I generally like to use rainbow trout because I particularly like the nuttier flavour, but you can use any fish filet you like or have available - the spices and seasoning might just need a little adjustment to taste.
Yields 2 portions
Ingredients:
- 2 trout filets (about 330g total) (I used rainbow trout)
- 180g of fine green beans
- 200g of jersey royals potatoes
- 130-150g of giant couscous
- 500ml of vegetable (or fish) stock
- 2 tbsp of butter (I used dairy free spread)
- 3 tbsp of plain yoghurt (I used soy yoghurt)
- 1 tbsp of yellow mustard
- 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
- some freshly cracked pepper
- some sea salt
- some fresh thyme
Method:
Wash your potatoes and place them in a medium saucepan. Cover with water and place on a medium to high heat and bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling, add a handful of sea salt and leave to cook for approximately 25-30 mins. The cooking time will vary depending on the size of your potatoes - you are looking for them to be soft enough for a fork/knife to easily skewer through, but they should still hold their shape. TIP Cooking them with their skin on, will also allow them to not absorb too much water - I also particularly like my potatoes skin on. If you prefer to remove the skin, I would suggest to do this after the potatoes have been boiled and drained.
Whilst the potatoes are cooking, you can prepare your green beans. Trim them and place them in a small boiling pan of water (lightly salted). Leave to boil for 4-5 mins. Drain and set aside.
Now you can move on to preparing the serving dressing: combine the yoghurt, the mustard and the smoked paprika in a bowl and mix. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and set aside, so you can move onto the fish. In order to keep the fish moist, I have opted for a quick fry first and then a longer poaching. TIP: If you usually cook your fish filets in a different way, for example in the oven, then you can adjust this part of the recipe to suit your preference. You could also opt to use some leftover filets that might have been already cooked, in which case you can skip this step altogether.
First things first: check that your filets have been completely de-boned! Trout bones can be rather sneaky and with rainbow trout having a whiter flesh, it is easy to miss them. TIP: I find it easier to locate the bones by feeling with my finger and plucking them with my (kitchen!) tweezers. Once the filets are ready, heat up some butter in a large frying pan (I would suggest to use a pan with high sides, as we will also add the liquid for poaching here). Once the butter is almost completely melted, lightly salt the fish filets and add to the pan. Fry the fish on a medium to high heat for approximately 3-4 min, flipping the filet halfway through (I left the skin on for this recipe).
Once the filets have coloured, lower the heat and add the stock to the pan so that the filets are nicely covered. Add some twigs on fresh thyme and cover tightly with a lip. Leave to slowly poach for approximately 10-12 mins.
Whilst the fish is poaching you can prepare the couscous. I would normally try to infuse some extra flavour in the couscous, by adding ingredients, however in this case, there was enough going on in the dish, so I opted for simply cooking according to packet instructions i.e. boiling it for 6-8 mins in lightly salted water. Drain and set aside.
In the last poaching moments of the trout, you can start putting together your other ingredients on a plate. I used the couscous as a bed, chopped and spread my potatoes over it and added the green beans. Once the fish is done poaching, add your filets (they will probably fall apart, and that is perfectly OK!) on top and generously drizzle your mustard sauce over the dish. An optional dusting of black pepper and fresh thyme on top will give it a garnished look. I served it with some extra dressing on the side for an easy top up.
Some extra tips
If you don't have giant couscous or would prefer something different, you can use chickpeas. I like to lightly warm up my chickpeas in the pan with a tiny bit of butter (spread) and finish them with some black pepper.
If you end up giving this recipe a go, I would love to see a snap of it. Simply tag @giadasplate on Instagram or send me a DM.
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