Trout Kiev and Pilaf Rice

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I saw Simon Rimmer make a Salmon Kiev on Something for the Weekend last Saturday and I thought it looked quite good. We had a huge trout fillet in the freezer, so I thought that would be a good substitute. It did work quite well, however the trout was quite soft and flaky, so it was a bit difficult to cut pockets to stuff with the garlic butter. But it tasted really good, even though I didn’t follow Simon’s recipe at all and just did my own thing! Steve ate his with Salad Cream (which he puts on everything!) and I tried it and it was actually really nice. It gave the fried fish that acidity to cut through the grease, a bit like tartare sauce.

I served it with Pilaf Rice, using Alton Brown’s fool-proof method (I have tried Paul Merrett’s recipe for Emergency Biryani which uses a similar method and it was a disaster!) but I added some mushrooms, red pepper and roasted squash before adding the rice to the pan. The vegetables did release some moisture, so next time I would add a bit less stock, probably 25ml less.

I made the rice first, then whilst it was in the oven I prepared the trout. Then when the rice came out of the oven to rest, I cranked up the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C and put the trout in for about 5 minutes.

• Serves: 2

Rice Pilaf Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 red pepper, chopped into 1cm pieces
• handful of mushrooms, sliced
• handful of roasted butternut squash chunks
• 1 cup rice (I used long grain jasmine rice)
• 1 1/2 cups (350-375ml) stock (use the lower amount if using watery vegetables like mushrooms)

Rice Pilaf Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Heat the oil and sweat the onion and garlic until softened over a low heat, don't allow to brown.
3. Add the mushrooms, peppers and squash and fry until softened.
4. Add the rice and gently fry until it smells 'nutty', about 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the stock, stir once and bring to a boil.
6. Cover the saucepan with the damp tea-towel (it must be damp otherwise you might set it on fire!) and clamp on the lid. Fold up the corners of the tea-towel over the lid so that it's not hanging loose. You can also use greaseproof paper.
7. Put the saucepan in the preheated oven and cook for 15 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and leave for 10-15 minutes with the lid still on, as during this time the rice is still cooking and absorbing the liquid.

Trout Kiev Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, leaves picked (I used lemon thyme)
• 2 large thick trout fillets
• 2 Tbsps plain flour
• 1 free-range egg, beaten
• 4 big handfuls of panko breadcrumbs
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3-4 Tbsp vegetable oil

Trout Kiev Directions:

1. Put the butter, garlic, thyme leaves and some black pepper in a small bowl and mash together with a fork until well combined.
2. Turn out the mixture onto a sheet of cling film and roll it into a cylinder. Chill in the freezer for five minutes.
3. Using a sharp knife, make a deep slit into the side of each trout fillet to form a pocket (or lots of little pockets if one large pocket is not possible).
4. When the butter mixture has chilled, slice it into 3mm discs and insert them into each of the pockets in the trout.
5. Sprinkle the flour onto a plate and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Beat the egg in a shallow dish. Mix together the breadcrumbs on a separate plate. Dredge each stuffed fish fillet first in the flour, then dip it in the beaten egg, then roll it in the breadcrumbs mixture until completely coated.
6. Heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan over a medium to high heat. Add the coated trout fillets and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until the breadcrumb coating is crisp and golden-brown.
7. Transfer the trout to the oven now turned up to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until cooked through. (NB: The fish is cooked through when the flesh is opaque.)