Steamed trout with celeriac remoulade

Steamed trout with celeriac remoulade

It’s summer, it’s my first post and it’s time for something light and delicious. Fish with salad is just what I fancy at this time of year, especially with bikinis to be fitting into in the next few weeks!

Celeriac is a fantastic root veg with a really distinctive but lovely creamy, mild flavour that perfectly complements fish, particularly when partnered with fish’s ultimate friends, parsley, lemon and capers. Whenever I can get my hands on it I do because it makes beautiful slaws, purees and soups.

A trick I learned when working for a top food brand was to get perfectly steamed fish by cooking it ‘en papillote’ – wrapping it in an ‘envelope’ of baking paper and baking. Nowadays you don’t even need to go to the trouble of making the parcel as there are products out there made specifically for it, which is what I used for this fish.

Trout is great because, whilst having a very similar flavour to its more expensive cousin, salmon, it’s still relatively cheap and as it’s smaller than a salmon you can treat yourself to a whole one. The trick when choosing fish is to check the eyes (don’t be afraid to look it in the eye!) go for the fish with the clearest eyes, the cloudier they are the older.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
For the fish
– 2 x whole trout
– 1 lemon
– 2 sprigs tarragon
– 1 clove garlic
– 4 bay leaves
For the celeriac remoulade
– 1 celeriac
– handful parsley
– 3 x anchovy fillets (don’t be put off by these, they will break down into the dressing and will make it delicious without tasting in any way fishy)
– 1 tbsp capers
– 2 tbsp yoghurt
– 1/2 lemon
– 2 tbsp olive oil
– 1 tsp dijon mustard

1. Prep the fish by washing and removing anything in the inner cavities, salt both sides.
2. Stuff with chopped garlic, bay leaves, tarragon sprigs and lemon slices.
3. Add fish to a papillote bag or create one from folded baking paper.
4. Bake in oven at 200 degrees for 25 mins.
5. For the remoulade shred the celeriac either using a mandolin or a larger grating setting on a food processor – it shouldn’t be too fine but also not too thick (not thicker than a matchstick).
6. Immediately cover with lemon juice to stop discolouration.
7. Add the yoghurt, olive oil, mustard, chopped parsley, capers and finely chopped anchovy fillets and mix carefully until salad is coated.
8. Season and serve the fish and salad with a slice of lemon.

Delicious. Bring on the summer!

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