There are so many brilliant ingredients in season right now that it’s hard to know what to do: so many ideas, so little time to use them all. One fish I’m always mad for in summer, though, is wild sea trout: it’s a fraction of the cost of wild salmon, but just as sweet and delicate, and the perfect foil for gentle summer veg. I’m also partial to gooseberries, which make a deliciously soft filling for my very British take on strudel.
Poached sea trout with summer vegetables and lemon aïoli
A beautifully, summery dish. A whole side of trout is a real treat, but for a simpler family feast, make this with a few fillets instead. Serves six plus.
3 tbsp olive oil
40g butter
½ bunch spring onions, trimmed, outer layer removed, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thin
200g podded broad beans
1 handful asparagus spears
100ml white wine
400g peas
1 large handful mint leaves
For the sea trout
1.2kg side of sea trout, pin-boned
1 lemon, sliced
2 big bunches fresh dill
175ml white wine
2 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 shallot, halved
Fine sea salt
For the lemon aïoli
2 egg yolks
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp cider vinegar
250ml olive oil
250ml vegetable oil
Put all the ingredients for the fish apart from the water in a deep roasting tin that’s big enough to hold the trout flat (or use a fish kettle). Add cold water to cover, measuring the amount, then add a tablespoon of fine sea salt for every 1.3 litres of water. Bring to a boil, then cover tightly in foil and take off the heat. Leave the fish to sit in the water until it has cooled, then lift out on to kitchen paper to drain. Transfer to a serving platter, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate – you can make it to this stage up to a day ahead.
For the aïoli, put the egg yolks, garlic, mustard, lemon and vinegar in a food processor. Briefly blitz, then, with the engine running, slowly pour in the oil drip by drip. When the mayo starts coming together, add the oil in a thin, steady stream, until you have a glossy, emulsified mayo. Season, add a touch more lemon if it needs sharpening, and refrigerate. (If the mayo splits, you can rescue it by adding a teaspoon of warm water or a little lemon juice. If that doesn’t work, keep the split mayo and start over again in a clean processor bowl, adding the split mayo bit by bit once the new batch starts emulsifying.)
Heat a deep saute pan or casserole on a medium flame and add the oil and butter. Sweat the onions for five minutes, then add the garlic and cook for three to four minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the beans, asparagus and wine, leave to bubble for two minutes, season, then toss in the peas and mint. Cook for a few minutes, until the peas and beans are tender, season and spoon around the fish. Serve with the aïoli, and rye sourdough or steamed jersey royals.
Gooseberry, apple and elderflower strudel
The naturally tart gooseberries are softened and enhanced by the floral notes of elderflower in this nutty, flaky and absurdly delicious pudding. You can bake this and freeze it, too, if you want to get ahead. Serves six to eight.
75g melted butter, plus extra for greasing
2 eating apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
500g gooseberries, topped and tailed
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 star anise
5 tbsp elderflower cordial
3 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp Pernod or water
100g demerara sugar
75g ground almonds
4 sheets filo pastry
35g flaked almonds, toasted
Creme fraiche or ice-cream, to serve
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and butter a large baking tray. Put the apples, gooseberries, lemon zest, star anise, elderflower and caster sugar in a saucepan on a medium heat. Slowly bring up to a boil, gently stirring, then cover, turn down the heat to a simmer and leave for eight to 10 minutes. Add the Pernod or water, and simmer uncovered for two minutes, until the apple has softened and the gooseberries have just burst but are still holding their shape. Leave to cool while you prepare the pastry.
In a small bowl, combine all but a tablespoon of the demerara sugar with the ground almonds. On a clean work surface, lay out a sheet of filo and brush generously with melted butter. Sprinkle over a third of the sugar mix, then lay another sheet of filo on top. Repeat twice more. Once you put on the final sheet of filo, drain the fruit and spoon it along one of the long edges of the pastry, reserving the cooking juices. Sprinkle over the flaked almonds and brush the far pastry edge with melted butter.
Pick up the fruit edge of the pastry and carefully roll it over as if you were making a swiss roll. Transfer seam-side down to the greased tray, and brush all over with more melted butter. Scatter over the remaining demerara, then bake for 15 minutes, until golden and crisp.
Leave to cool for five minutes, then serve slices of warm strudel with dollops of creme fraiche or vanilla ice-cream and drizzled with the reserved cooking syrup.
And for the rest of the week…
Cover any leftover veg mix with stock and bulk up with spuds or pearl barley for a wonderful summery stew. Leftover trout makes great fishcakes – add some finely chopped capers, gherkins and plenty of fresh dill and lemon. Unused aïoli goes very well with steamed asparagus or summer crudités. And make extra fruit filling and turn it into ice-cream by churning with vanilla, cream and some crushed meringue.
