Hot-smoked trout with lemon and dill

Ingredients

• 900 g fresh skin-on trout fillets
• 80 g coarse sea salt
• 30 g turbinado sugar
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 bunch fresh dill
• 2 pieces organic lemons
• 800 g new potatoes
• 60 g unsalted butter
• 200 g crème fraîche
• 1 tbsp mild mustard
• 50 g beech or alder wood smoking chips

Method

1. Check the trout fillets: remove any remaining pin bones with kitchen tweezers, leave the skin on, and pat the flesh thoroughly dry. It should feel dry to the touch so it cures evenly.
2. Mix the coarse salt, cane sugar, and coarsely crushed black pepper. Spread a portion of this mixture in a shallow dish, place the trout skin-side down, coat the flesh with the remaining mixture, and top with a few dill sprigs. Cure in the refrigerator at 4 °C for 45 minutes, until the flesh firms up slightly and releases some moisture.
3. Rinse the trout very briefly under a gentle stream of cold water for 30 seconds to wash away excess salt, then pat dry with paper towels. Place the fillets uncovered in the refrigerator at 4 °C for 2 hours until the surface forms a slightly tacky, satiny pellicle to help the smoke adhere.
4. Prepare your smoker or covered grill for indirect hot smoking, stabilizing the temperature at 90 °C. Drain the wood chips if they were soaked, place them over the coals or into the smoker box, and wait for a thin, steady stream of smoke to develop.
5. Lay the fillets skin-side down on the oiled cooking grate, away from direct heat. Close the lid and hot-smoke between 85 °C and 95 °C for 35 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 55 °C on a probe thermometer and the pale pink flesh turns opaque and flakes under gentle pressure.
6. While the fish is smoking, cook the new potatoes in a pot of simmering salted water at 95 °C for 20 minutes, until easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife. Drain, return to the warm pot off the heat, add the unsalted butter, and cover for 2 minutes, swirling the pot gently to coat.
7. Prepare the cold sauce: whisk together the heavy cream, mild mustard, finely grated zest of one lemon, a squeeze of lemon juice, chopped dill, and black pepper. Refrigerate at 4 °C until serving.
8. Remove the trout from the smoker and let it rest for 10 minutes loosely tented with aluminum foil off the heat; the internal temperature will carry over naturally to 58 °C for tender, melting flesh.
9. Serve the trout warm or at room temperature alongside the buttered potatoes, the lemon-dill cream, lemon wedges, and fresh dill sprigs. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

693.3 kcal

Protein

50.76 g

Carbohydrate

39.72 g

Fat

37.02 g

Fibre

6.14 g

Calcium

78.47 mg

Iron

1.66 mg

Magnesium

13.4 mg