Fishy Supper

Gilly loves fish. We tend to meet up for dinner once a month and it just seemed like a good idea to cook at home rather than splurge in a restaurant. Last month for instance we went to Zayna and had a fantastic Pakistani meal and the previous month we went to Silk which was good but very quiet.

Inspired by the passion fruit ceviche we had in India...



... we decided to replicate it with good old fashioned English trout. Simply chop up 2 trout fillets and marinate in lime juice, coriander, passion fruit and chili to taste. Leave for 20-30 minutes and then spoon back into the empty passion fruit shells for an effortlessly exotic treat. It's a much more interesting version of the standard ceviche with the added benefit of it looking very sexy.



We followed this up with a very simple but delicious smoked haddock and prawn risotto - served with a goats cheese and roasted tomato salad. Simply make a standard white risotto with some good white wine and even better rice and stock. Meanwhile poach your smoked haddock fillets in skimmed milk laced with bay, pepper corns and mace and cook until the fish starts to flake. This photo below is one of my favourite cooking photos... I just love the colours. It's like an accidental work of art.



Then stir in some frozen peas, spinach leavees and flake in two thirds of the fish and a good handful of frozen prawns. Cook until the frozen elements are no longer hazardous. Stir in a slurp of the mily fish liquor to lubricate and then serve with a garnish of chives, parsley and the remaining fish. To lift the dish to a new level, grate some lemon zest into a few tablespoons of creme fraiche and serve as a condiment - it lightens the risotto and adds some zing which compliments the smoky fish.



Yum.

We finished off with some roasted apricots, steeped in Courvoisier and crumbled with Amaretti biscuits which were far too tasty for something so simple. Unfortunately, because they were so delicious I didn't get a chance to take a photo, so you'll just have to use your imagination. All in all it was a raging success. The journey from sharp and sweet trout ceviche to creamy riotto, back to sweet and sharp again was fantasitc.