Monday, August 07, 2006
Sea Trout with Creamy Potatoes
My mother in law arrived from England on Wednesday and I was quite keen on showing of the great food we have here in Dublin. I spent most of the morning shopping for food - Marks & Spencer, Fallon & Byrne, Liston's, Meath Street, I left no food haunt unsearched. The outcome was a lovely dinner of fried sea trout with creamy potatoes and minted green beans.For the fish:
2 sea trout fillets
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
For the potatoes:
1 tbsp butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme (or ½ tbsp dried)
¼ lemon, juice only
4 medium floury potatoes, cut into bite-sized cubes
about 200ml water
100ml double cream (if you want a lighter dish, you can use yoghurt or low fat cream cheese)
1 vegetable Oxo cube
1½ tbsp freshly grated parmesan
salt and pepper to taste
For the beans:
2 handfuls of green beans, ends trimmed and chopped into small bits
2 tsp fresh mint, chopped
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste
Begin by making the potatoes. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan (it should be just big enough to comfortably hold the potatoes in two layers) over medium low heat. Add the onion and garlic and fry until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the thyme and lemon juice and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Now add the potatoes and enough water to just reach the bottom of the top layer. Do not add too much water, you don't want to boil the life out of your spuds. Stir well, reduce the heat, partly cover the pan and simmer, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are almost tender, about 15 minutes. Now pour in the cream and continue cooking, uncovered, until the potatoes are cooked and the sauce is nice and thick. Finally, crumble in the Oxo cube and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Stir in the parmesan and butter at the very last minute to prevent any sticking, curdling or similar accidents that can happen when you mix cream, cheese, lemon juice and heat.
For the fish, heat the olive oil in a shallow frying pan over medium heat. When it is nice and hot add the fillets skin side down. Sear them for 3 to 4 minutes then turn them over and finish them off by browning the other side, about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not overcook them, you do not want the fish to go dry.
While the fish is cooking, briefly blanch the beans in boiling water until tender crisp, about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat, add the beans and mint and continue cooking for a minute or two to let the flavours mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
I was a little anxious if I had made the right choice with this dinner, even more so when mum confessed that she was not a big fan of trout. But all fears were wiped away when she not only ate the fish, but actually cleared the plate. Now all I had to do was hope that all dinners would go this well.
Christine at 10:29 pm
