Smoked trout salad
Ingredients
One and a half pounds of new potatoes, four smoked trout fillets, four ounces of mixed salad leaves, four slices of dark rye bread, cut into fingers, four tomatoes, salt, and freshly ground pepper.
For the dressing: Four tablespoons of creamed horseradish, four tablespoons of groundnut oil, one tablespoon of white wine vinegar, and two tablespoons of caraway seeds.
Method
Bring the potatoes to the boil in a pan of salted water and simmer for 20 minutes, then drain. Remove the skin and any bones from the trout.
To make the dressing: Place all the ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake vigorously. Season the salad leaves and moisten with the dressing. Distribute among four plates. Flake the trout and halve the potatoes and tomatoes. Scatter, together with the rye fingers, over the salad leaves and toss to mix. Season and serve.
Roast monkfish with crushed potatoes
Ingredients
Two 12 ounce pieces of thick monkfish fillet, one and a half pounds of new potatoes, scraped clean, two tablespoons of olive oil, three fl oz of extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve; 2oz watercress springs, very roughly chopped, balsamic vinegar, sea salt flakes, and crushed black pepper to serve.
Method
Pre heat the oven to 200C. Season the monkfish in some salt and set aside for 15 minutes. Cook the potatoes in well-salted boiling water until tender. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the two tablespoon of olive oil in a large, ovenproof, frying pan. Pat the monkfish dry on kitchen paper, add to the pan and sear for three to four minutes, turning it three to four times, until nicely browned on all sides. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 10 to 12 minutes, until the fish is cooked through but still moist and juicy in the centre. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and set aside for five minutes. When the potatoes are done, drain them well and return them to the pan with the extra virgin olive oil. Gently crush each potato against the side of the pan with the back of a fork until it just bursts open. Season with salt and pepper. Add any of the juices from the fish and the watercress and turn over gently until the watercress is well mixed in. Cut the monkfish across into slices. Spoon the crushed potatoes onto four warmed plates and put the monkfish on top. Put your thumb over the top of the bottle of extra virgin olive oil and drizzle a little of it around the outside edge of each plate. Do the same with the balsamic vinegar and the sprinkle around a few sea salts flakes and coarsely crushed black pepper.
Vanilla slice
Ingredients
450g of puff pastry, 250g of caster sugar; 75g of cornflour, 50g of custard powder, two pints of double cream, 50g of butter (plus extra for greasing ), two teaspoons of vanilla essence, three egg yolks.
For the icing: 175g of icing sugar, 50g of passion fruit pulp, and 15g of butter (melted ).
Method
Preheat the oven to 210C. Grease two baking trays and line the base and sides of a shallow nine inch square cake tin with aluminium foil, leaving the foil hanging over on two possible sides. Divide the pastry in half, roll each piece to a 10 inch square about one inch thick and place each one on a baking tray. Prick all over with a fork and bake for eight minutes. Trim each pastry sheet to a nine inch square. Place one sheet topside down in the cake tin.
Combine the sugar, cornflour, and custard powder in a saucepan. Gradually add the cream and stir until smooth. Place over a medium heat and stir constantly for two minutes, or until the mixture boils and thickens. Add the butter and vanilla essence and stir until smooth. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks until combined. Spread the custard over the pastry in the tin and cover with the remaining pastry, top-side down. Allow to cool.
To make the icing, blend all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Life the slice out, using the foil as handles. Spread the icing over the top and leave it to set before carefully cutting into squares.
