I’ve been looking forward to this past weekend for oh so long.
This Saturday, you see, was Madison’s first outdoor farmer’s market of the season.
The weather was perfect and the market was full of wanderers, picking up early spring vegetables, cheeses, and pastries.
One of us, we’re not going to name names, slept through the whole experience.
Our loot from this week was all over the place. The first market is always a little skim on the vegetables, although there was plenty of spinach to go around. It’ll only take a week or so before the piles of rhubarb and asparagus are falling over at every stand.
We bought a beautiful mix of roasting potatoes, some extra stinky cheese, herbs to plant in our garden, and smoked trout. I was tempted to just flake the trout and eat it on a bagel with cream cheese—it is so good as is—but decided to try something new. I quickly landed on this smoked trout dip recipe.
A dip is a lovely way to mellow out the taste of smoked fish (if you’re hanging out with a crowd that needs the mellowing) while still maintaining it’s essence.
The fish is gently poached in some whole milk and garlic, then mixed together with potatoes and Parmesan cheese.
You bake the dip in the oven and when the cheese on top is nice and melty, it’s ready to eat. Simply spread the dip on a crusty baguette or on some crackers, and serve it alongside some cured meats, grapes, or other fruit.
- 1-2 russet potatoes, about 10 ounces
- 1 teaspoon plus ½ cup olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 8 ounces smoked trout, skin and bones removed
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan, grated
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Rub potatoes with 1 teaspoon olive oil and bake for 50-60 minutes, until tender. Let the potato cool, then using your hands, rub off peel. Mash potatoes until smooth.
- Meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring garlic, trout, and milk to a simmer over low heat. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Transfer half of the trout to a plate and flake.
- Transfer remaining trout, garlic, and milk to a food processor. Add lemon juice, paprika, and ½ cup olive oil and process until smooth.
- In a large bowl, combine mashed potatoes, flaked trout, and contents of food processor. Mix together and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Transfer mixture to a shallow 1 quart baking dish or four 6 ounce ramekins. Top with Parmesan. Bake until cheese melts and dip is heated through, about 20 minutes.
- Serve with bread, crackers, cured meats, grapes, or other fruit.
Recipe from September 2014 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine.
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