Smoked sea trout with chive dressing and potato and tomato salad recipe

As featured on Rick Stein’s Food Stories, this is Rick Stein’s smoked sea trout with chive dressing recipe. He pairs the delightfully oily fish with two of his favourite salads – potato and tomato. The perfect dish to share with friends and family at home.

Ingredients for Rick’s smoked sea trout with chive dressing and potato and tomato salads recipe

SERVES 4

• 1 x 400g sea trout fillet, skinned and cut into 4 equal sized pieces

For the light brine

• 50g salt
• 600ml water

For the chive dressing

• 1 small bunch chives
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped 90ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1⁄2 tsp salt
• Hardwood sawdust, for smoking

For the potato salad

• 1 kg new potatoes, such as Jersey Royals, scrubbed
• 2 banana shallots, finely chopped
• 2 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and chopped
• 1-2 tbsp capers
• 1-2 gherkins/dill pickles, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine or sherry vinegar
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• Salt and pepper
• Small handful parsley chopped or a mix of parsley and tarragon or dill

For the tomato salad

• 6 tomatoes, finely sliced
• 1 small red onion, finely sliced
• Salt and pepper
• Pinch of caster sugar
• Handful of parsley or basil, chopped or torn
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar

How to make Rick’s chargrilled smoked sea trout with chive dressing a a potato and tomato salads recipe

1. Make the brine by dissolving the salt in the water. Pour it into a shallow dish, add the trout fillet, cover and leave for 20 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
2. Throw a handful of woodchips onto the coals and close the lid.
3. For the chive dressing, set aside 4 of the chives for a garnish and finely chop the remainder. Mix them with the shallot, olive oil, vinegar and salt.
4. Boil the potatoes in salted water, then drained cool and then cut into chunks and mix with the remaining ingredients and set aside.  Arrange the sliced tomatoes on a serving plate and scatter over the sliced red onion and season well with salt, pepper and sugar, then dress with oil and vinegar and finally garnish with chopped herbs. 
5. Brush the pieces of smoked trout with a little oil, place diagonally on the grill and cook for a couple of minutes on each side until lightly marked by the ridges and the centre of the fish is just warm.
6. Spoon some of the dressing into the centre of 4 plates and put the pieces of trout on top. Garnish with the chives and serve.

Happy cooking