May 2004

Tian Of Smoked Trout With Avocado And A Red Chard Salad.

This is a very simple recipe that can be used as a starter or as a light main course. Now the weather is finally warming up it would be rather nice with a salad as a lunch, relaxing in the garden, enjoying the spring sun.

The tian is really just a small stack of three different layers. The base is the smoked trout. This has been coarsely chopped and mixed with some chopped dill, some deseeded and chopped cucumber, salt, coarse ground black pepper and a very small amount of mayonnaise. This is just to help bind the mix and hold it together. This mix is then pushed down into a ring mould to the desired depth. If you do not have a ring mould you can use other things. I have seen this done using a small tin can. Both ends are removed as well as the label. Then it is thoroughly washed. It is then just as good as any mould.

On top of the trout mix comes the avocado. Here it has been peeled and very thinly sliced. It is neatly laid on top of the trout. If you then find you have a whole in the middle, this can be filled with any avocado trimmings chopped up.

The top layer is a bit of a choice. Here we have used mascapone cheese flavoured with a little lemon juice. As an alternative you could use crème fraiche. This is a lot less fattening and has a slightly sharp taste that goes very well in this dish.

This was just finished with a light dusting of smoked paprika, but of course this is optional.

The salad we have used is fresh picked red chard. This is easy to obtain from a super market. It was just washed and mixed with some finely shredded lemon rind, salt and pepper and the mearest hint of olive oil. This salad can be changed to another but that is down to your own personal taste.

To serve we have got the tian, the salad and then a drizzle of avocado oil. This is a bit extravagant but complements the avocado already in the dish.

I hope you enjoy it.

Paul Vincent, Head Chef.