Wild Sea Trout, Red Pepper Orzo and Glazed Beetroot with Baby Vegetables recipe by Chef Adrian. I love sea trout. It’s flavour is very subtle and sweet. We can eat lots of this fish as it is not under threat. Try to sub it in for salmon when you can. I love it with a crispy skin. Orzo looks quite like rice, but is a pasta, so be careful not to overcook it. It’s a great carrier of flavour.
INGREDIENTS:
(Serves 2)
– 2 small beetroot
– Olive oil
– 6 asparagus spears
– 1 baby courgette
– 40g sea samphire
– 2 tablespoons butter
– 400ml fish stock (see page 179)
– Sea salt to season
– 100g orzo
– 40g red pepper purée, plus extra for serving
– 200ml cherry (or ordinary) balsamic vinegar
– 2 x 150g fillets of sea trout, skin on
– 2 sprigs of thyme
TO SERVE (OPTIONAL)
– Spinach purée
METHOD:
1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/400ºF/gas mark 6.
2. Start with the beetroot. Cut off the long green stalks, but not too close to the root or their colour will bleed, then rub them with some olive oil and wrap them in tinfoil.
3. Place them onto a baking tray and roast in the oven until softened. Small beetroots take around 35 minutes. You’ll know they are cooked as they will be soft – to test this you can pierce them with a small, sharp knife.
4. In the meantime, prepare the baby vegetables. All we want are the tips of the asparagus, so cut off the stalks (these can be kept for soups and stocks). Slice the courgette into nice thin rounds with a knife.
5. Pick the bottom stalks off the sea samphire as these can be very chewy. Once you have these prepared, place them all into a small saucepan and add in 1 tablespoon of butter and 200ml of fish stock. Season with a small pinch of sea salt and set aside.
6. Add the orzo to a pot of boiling salted water and cook it according to the packet instructions. Once cooked, drain off the water and stir the red pepper purée through the orzo. Season to taste with sea salt and keep warm.
7. Remove the beetroots from the oven and peel off the skin with a small knife. I recommend wearing disposable gloves when doing this. Cut the beetroots into segments.
8. Heat a small frying pan nice and hot, then add the balsamic vinegar and beetroot segments. Allow the beetroot segments to go sticky and glazed. This normally takes 2–3 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.
9. Score the skin of the fish and pat it dry with kitchen paper. This allows the fish to become extra crispy. Heat a pan until it is smoking hot. At this stage you can put your baby vegetables on to simmer for 3–4 minutes.
10. Season the fish with sea salt on both sides. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and place the fish into it, skin side down. You’ll need to press the flesh down so that the skin gets full contact with the pan, as otherwise the fish will curl up. Use a fish slice to press it down.
11. Cook the fish with the skin side down until it is about 80 per cent cooked. This should take about 3–4 minutes. Don’t be afraid to turn the heat up or down to control the cooking.
12. When the fish is mostly cooked, turn it and add in 1 tablespoon of butter, 200ml of fish stock and the fresh thyme. Finish the fish in this emulsion for 2–3 minutes. Now you are ready to serve.
13. To plate, place a good spoon of red pepper purée on the plate and swipe through it with a palette knife.
14. Place some orzo to one side of the purée, then lay a piece of fish on top. Arrange the baby vegetables and glazed beetroot around the orzo. Finish with some spinach purée on the plate, if using, and serve.
Adrian Martin releases new cookbook inspired by Instagram feedback. Chef, Author and Television Presenter, Adrian Martin’s passion for food and eye for perfection was an instant hit when he started posting his dishes on Instagram. In a world, where style and beauty rule the day his food images, which are best described as art on a plate, were an instant hit. Inspired by feedback from his fans, Adrian shows how easy it is to cook and present restaurant-standard food. Whether you want simply want to displays this seasons ‘must-have’ in your collection, host the ultimate dinner party or prepare something memorable for that someone special in your life, “Create Beautiful At Home”, is the book for you.
The first part of the book focuses on how to prepare the ingredients such as shucking an oyster, breaking down a chicken and filleting a fish. The second part is broken down into courses: Bread, Starters, Palate Cleansers, Mains, Desserts and Petit Fours. Striking images showcase how the dishesshould be presented, with each dish having an image and step-by-step instructions for how to recreate it yourself. Dishes include Lobster Thermidor, Crab Ravioli, Blood Orange and Thyme Sorbet, Braised Beef, Venison and Barley Risotto, and Pear Tart Tatin – each with a beautiful image to guide your presentation. There is also a handy ‘how to’ section and a host of kitchen basics, so you can adapt the recipes to your own tastes and make your own masterpieces.
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RRP €24.99.
www.chefadrian.ie