It's been busy, great and busy! The Hamptons are lovely, the kitchen I cook in, even lovelier. There's been lots of parties, dinners and lunches and it's great. The farmer's markets out here are gorgeous, there is a fabulous new Citarella (gourmet supermarket) opened near the house as well.
I have definitely been neglecting the blog. But I made this as the first part of a business lunch on Saturday and everyone loved it. And I love it because it's quick and simple and I got to take the dill straight out of the herb garden.
One of life's greatest pleasures is to pick herbs straight from the garden and cook with them. My Dad had a brilliant herb garden at their house in Australia, I'm not sure what their herb garden is like in New Zealand, is it as good Dad?
I LOVE trout. I love smoking it but this one I bought ready smoked. It is an excellent and often much cheaper alternative to smoked salmon. I looked after Lady Bowes-Lyons in England many years ago. She was the cousin of the Queen Mother. She lived in Northumberland. John was the man who looked after the gardens and drove her when necessary. He had the thickest Geordie accent, he would talk to me and I would not understand a word he said half the time. Just used to say "oh really," and laugh when he laughed.But we both loved trout, that much we established. And he'd come past the kitchen on his way back from the river and give me a freshly caught trout. Heaven.
Here's the recipe:
Chilled cucumber and dill soup with smoked trout
Serves 4
Cooking Time Prep time 10 mins, cook 3 mins
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
6 Lebanese cucumbers, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 cup thick natural yoghurt
1 cup dill sprigs (loosely packed)
1 pound smoked trout fillets, flaked
Creme fraiche
Lemon zest
Pickled radish salad
4 radishes, thinly sliced
¼ cup (loosely packed) dill sprigs
1 tbsp verjuice
1 tsp white sugar
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add garlic, onion and fennel seeds and cook for 3 minutes or until onion softens. Transfer onion mixture to a food processor, add cucumber, yoghurt and dill, process until smooth, season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then refrigerate.
For the salad, combine ingredients and 2 tsp sea salt in a bowl, toss to combine, stand for 10 minutes, then drain.
To serve, ladle soup into bowls, top with salad and trout and creme fraiche with a fresh grating of lemon zest.
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