The trout and caviar lend a luxurious feel to the dish.Use the caviar of your choice on your menu; my favourite is salmon roe caviar, as it has a lovely briny, salty and slightly fishy kick to it. The apple is very important in this dish, as it brightens and freshens up the whole dish – without it, the dish could become flat
Wine Suggestion: Cavalli Vendetta 2016: a white blend made up of viognier and verdello. The wine has very fresh notes of white peach and honey to it and will work well with the apple in this dish.
Cauliflower vichyssoise with smoked trout and caviar
Ingredients
CAULIFLOWER VICHYSSOISE
- 1 whole cauliflower
- 2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled
- 1 celery stick
- 1 white onion, peeled
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 3 thyme sprigs
- 100g butter
- 500ml (2 cups) chicken stock
- 700ml fresh cream
TO SERVE
- 500g baby spinach
- 1 green apple
- juice of 1 lemon
- 200g smoked trout ribbons
- 16g caviar (we used salmon roe)
- shoots of your choice/dill, to garnish
Instructions
For the cauliflower vichyssoise, roughly chop the cauliflower, potatoes, celery, onion and garlic, and sauté with the thyme in the butter over medium heat. Add the chicken stock and fresh cream, and cook until the potatoes are cooked through. Blitz using a blender and pass through a fine mesh sieve. Allow to cool down in the fridge overnight.
For the spinach purée, blanch the spinach in boiling water, 30 seconds. Refresh in ice water, then blitz using a blender and pass through a fine mesh sieve.
For the apple batons, slice the green apple very thinly with a mandolin. Use a sharp knife to slice the apples into thin batons. Squeeze the fresh lemon juice over them to prevent discolouring.
To serve, make a design with the spinach purée in each bowl, then roll your smoked trout ribbons into roses and arrange them in the bowls. Place a small teaspoon of caviar on top of the smoked trout and garnish with the apple batons (a handful per plate). Garnish with shoots of your choice or dill. Transfer the vichyssoise to a sauce jug, then take the bowls out to the table and pour the vichyssoise into the bowls at the table in front of your guests for a bit of theatre.
Imka Webb is a freelance digital marketing expert and the digital editor of Food & Home Entertaining magazine. www.imkawebb.com
