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Pan roasted sea trout with confit beetroot and wild rice
June sees the arrival in our fishmongers of sea trout and although expensive, to my mind an even finer fish than wild salmon with an unmatched flavour and texture. Sea trout is so good that it needs little cooking and no strong flavours from other foods that will overpower it. This dish uses a confit of new season beetroot together with a tian of wild and fragrant long grain rice to accompany the star performance of the pan-roasted sea trout. A little spring onion emulsion is added to enhance the flavour and appearance of the dish.
Ingredients for 8 people
8 pieces fillet of sea trout each about 85g. Scaled but skin left on
Flour for dusting
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil
Butter
4 medium-sized cooked beetroot
Olive oil
Thyme
Salt and pepper
400g rice (mixture of 8 parts fragrant long grain to one part wild rice)
Bunch spring onions
50 ml olive oil
50ml vegetable oil
2 egg yolks
Teaspoon of Dijon mustard
Salt & pepper
Lemon juice
Method
Begin by cutting the beetroot into segments, place them in an ovenproof dish with a little salt and pepper plus a few sprigs of thyme. Cover with olive oil and place in a warm oven, 90?C and cook slowly for 2 hours.
To make the emulsion, chop up the green parts of the spring onions and put into a pan with the olive oil and vegetable oil. Heat up to 80?C then remove from the heat and allow to cool down completely. When cool add some chopped white of the spring onions and blitz the lot in a liquidiser. Pass through fine butter muslin and discard the solids.
Place the egg yolks into a mixing bowl together with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and whisk together. Continue whisking while pouring the oil into the egg yolks, a few drops at a time to begin with and then in a steady gentle stream. Once the emulsion has thickened, add a squeeze of lemon juice and a little salt and pepper. The emulsion will keep in the fridge for about a week.
Cook the rice in plenty of boiling water until just tender (10-15 minutes) drain and set aside.
Heat a little oil in a large frying pan. Dust the skin side of the trout fillets with flour and pat away the excess with you hand. Place skin side down into the hot pan and DO NOT DISTURB for 3 minutes. Season the flesh side and check one fillet to see that the skin has turned brown and crisp. Flip the fillets over add a knob of butter to the pan and remove from the heat – the residual heat will finish the cooking of the fish.
Use an 80mm chef’s ring to make a tian of rice to one side of each serving plate. Position 4 or 5 segments of the beetroot confit alongside. Now carefully place a spoonful of the emulsion in the third part of the plate and use the back of a CLEAN spoon to drag the emulsion into a sweeping curve. Place the trout, skin side up on top of the beetroot, sprinkle the whole dish with a little finely chopped parsley and serve.
Slow-roast boned and stuffed shoulder of lamb with courgette tart
 As summer progresses so our lamb gains in flavour by being that little bit older before slaughter. This simple dish marries a succulent slow-cooked shoulder with a light, crisp flaky pastry tart of courgettes and red onions. No potatoes are needed here and we add colour and bite to the dish with a plain tomato, basil and feta cheese salad.
Ingredients for 8 people
One whole shoulder of lamb, boned and rolled (a job best done by your butcher if you ask nicely)
A few stalks of fresh rosemary
Slivers of the peel from one lemon
4-5 cloves of garlic, skinned and cut in half lengthways
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
One packet ready-made puff pastry
2 red onions, peeled and finely sliced lengthways
Salt and pepper
A splash of red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons caster sugar
2 large courgettes cut across into slices 3mm thick
Olive oil
A few picked leaves of thyme
One egg yolk loosened with a touch of cold water
4 large ripe tomatoes
50g feta cheese
Handful of fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper
Method
Stuff whole sprigs of rosemary, slices of lemon peel and cloves of garlic well down into the joint. You’ll find places where you can do this easily from each end without untying the butcher’s string. Place your roasting pan on top of the stove and heat a little oil. Sear the joint all over to colour well then transfer to a moderate oven, 140?C for 2 ½ - 3 hours. Remove the joint from the oven a good 15 to 20 minutes before serving to allow the meat to thoroughly relax.
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to a thickness of about 4mm. Use a dinner plate for a template and cut around to achieve a perfect circle about 10 inches across. Transfer the pastry disc to a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Blanch the courgette slices in boiling water for 30 seconds, drain and spread out to dry on a clean tea towel.
Slowly cook the red onions in a little oil until just softened. Add the salt, pepper, sugar and vinegar and simmer gently until thick and syrupy. Spread the cooked onions onto the pastry disc, leaving about an inch pastry all round. Now lay overlapping ring of courgettes on top, starting from the outside edge and gradually working your way in to the centre. Finish with one piece in the middle. Gently brush the courgettes with olive oil and brush the uncovered pastry edge with eggwash. Bake in the oven at 180?C for 15 minutes (if you get your timing right you can bake the tart while the meat is resting.
Slice the tomatoes horizontally and build onto a plate in the same fashion as the courgettes on the tart. Spread the top with basil leaves and broken feta. Season with salt and pepper just before service.
Once out of the oven sprinkle the top of the tart with thyme leaves.
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