Cold Smoked Trout Appetiser Recipe
Cold Smoked Trout with Parsley Oil Recipe
Cold smoked trout is a real luxury and a treat, especially when it’s smoked over beech wood. Our traditional cure recipe works well for this. The flavour is much more delicate and subtle than its’ bigger cousin the Salmon, which tend to be heavily smoked over oak chips. What better way to impress your guests then to serve a beautiful appetiser on your table.
Wine pairing: Champagne is always a treat for a special occasion, which this will be! (except a good Spanish cava will bring more joy for less money). If you wanted something still, a mineral Sauvignon Blanc (think more French than NZ), would go down a treat.
Ingredients
Sliced cold smoked rainbow trout
Micro herbs (A mixture of colours and flavours)
Green parsley oil.
You can make the parsley oil in advance at home, but don't do it too early as it loses its vibrant colour after a week or so.
Parsley oil
Ingredients
- 300 g Sunflower or vegetable oil
- 75 g Fresh parsley
- 75 g Spring onions
Blend all the ingredients together using a blender, into a smooth consistency (approx. 5 mins). Transfer the mixture into a saucepan and slowly bring up to 100 deg C over a medium heat. (Use a thermometer.) Make sure to keep stirring the pan to avoid the mixture catching on the bottom (Which would introduce a bitter flavour.)
Place a large coffee filter paper or muslin into a sieve and place over a large mixing bowl. Now strain the oil through the filter slowly. Don’t be tempted to use a spoon to help the straining, just let gravity do its job. You'll be left with a green pulp in the filter that you can discard.
Once the oil has finished draining through the filter, immediately place the oil in its bowl into a slightly larger bowl full of ice, making sure the ice doesn’t overflow into your bowl of oil. This cooling step is very important to ensure you maintain that vivid green colour.
Allow the infused oil to return to room temperature and then pour it into a dropper bottle for serving.
To serve
1. Dot some oil on the plate using a tea spoon or a bottle with oil pourer in a stripe or dot pattern.
2. Arrange the sliced cold smoked trout on a plate, try to get some height. See photos below for some examples.
3. Sprinkle your micro herbs around to decorate the plate, concentrating on the centre of the slices of cold smoked trout and serve.
