Smoked trout risotto

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• A small knob of butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 200g risotto rice
• Half a glass of white vermouth or white wine
• 750ml hot vegetable stock
• 150g smoked trout, skin and bones removed, gently flaked into chunks
• 50g mascarpone
• Zest of 1 lemon, plus a squeeze of juice
• Small bunch chives, snipped

 

Method

Gently fry the onion in the butter and oil until soft but not coloured. Tip in the risotto rice and cook for 2 mins, stirring continuously. Add the vermouth or wine and let the rice absorb the liquid and the alcohol burn off. Add the hot stock a ladle at a time, stirring until it is absorbed. Keep adding the stock until it is all absorbed. If the rice is still not fully cooked, you can add hot water until the rice is tender and creamy.

Stir in the trout, mascarpone, lemon zest, most of the chives and some seasoning. Cover and leave for 5 mins to rest. Finally, squeeze some lemon juice over the rice, divide between two bowls and scatter over the remaining chives.

Serve with green salad and a glass of Poulton Hill Arlington White 2020.

Smoked trout pasta

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 350g of your favourite pasta (we like fusilli)
• 200g of frozen peas
• 250g smoked trout fillets
• 6 tbsp of Greek yogurt
• 4 tsp of horseradish sauce

 

Method

Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted, boiling water according to the instruction on the pack. Add the frozen peas to the pasta pan four or five minutes before the pasta is cooked.

While the pasta cooks, flake the trout and set aside. Mix together the yogurt and the horseradish sauce. Season with salt and black pepper.

Drain the pasta and the peas and return to the pan. Stir in the yogurt mix and the flaked trout and let the heat of the pasta warm the sauce.

Serve with a glass of Poulton Hill Vineyard’s Arlington White 2020.

Rustic smoked trout pâté

Ingredients

• 140g crème fraîche
• 1 tsp creamed horseradish
• zest and juice ½ lemon
• 1 tbsp finely chopped dill, plus extra fronds to serve
• 2 hot smoked trout fillets
• Cold smoked trout trimmings
• Sourdough bread, toasted

 

Method

Mix the crème fraîche, lemon zest, lemon juice and horseradish in a bowl until smooth.

Season and then add the chopped dill. Flake in the smoked trout (we used one dark smoked trout fillet, one light smoked trout fillet, and a few cold smoked trout trimmings). Stir and season again if needed.

Sprinkle a few extra dill fronds on top of the pâté and serve with toasted slices of Hall’s sourdough bread and a glass of Poulton Hill Phoenix 2020.

Smoked trout chowder

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 leeks, finely sliced
• 550g potato in small cubes
• 1l fish stock
• 1 lemon, zest only
• 300ml whole milk
• 330g sweetcorn
• 250g skinless boneless smoked trout, cut into chunks
• 250g skinless, boneless white fish, cut into chunks
• Handful of chopped chives
• 2 tbsp double cream

 

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, fry the leeks for five minutes until softened. Add the potatoes and cook for a further minute. Pour in the fish stock and lemon zest, cover the pan and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Remove half the potatoes and leeks from the stock and set aside.

Transfer the remaining mixture from the pan, along with the milk, into a blender, and blend until it is smooth. Pour the soup back into the pan and add the sweetcorn, the fish and the reserved vegetables. Cover the pan again and gently heat for four minutes or so, until the fish is just cooked through. Be careful not to let the soup boil! Stir in the chives and cream, then season to taste.

Serve with chunky bread and a glass of Poulton Hill Special Reserve White.

Smoked trout kedgeree

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 150g basmati rice
• A small knob of butter
• 3 spring onions (sliced)
• 1 tbs curry powder
• 300ml of chicken stock
• 150g smoked trout
• A small handful of chopped dill
• Lemon wedges

 

Method

Place the eggs in a pan of cold water. Bring to the boil and let them cook for a further 7 minutes.

Rinse the rice in cold water and let it soak for 5 minutes.

Melt the butter in a deep frying pan and cook the spring onions for a minute. Stir in the curry powder and cook for another minute. Add the drained rice and stock, then bring to a simmer. Put on the lid and cook on a low heat for 12 minutes or until the stock has been absorbed and the rice cooked (add extra boiled water if needed). Stir in the trout with some seasoning and leave covered for a minute to warm through.

Peel the eggs and quarter. Serve the kedgeree with the eggs and dill and squeeze over some lemon juice. For the perfect Sunday brunch, serve with a glass of Bulari Rosé 2018.

Smoked trout fishcakes

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 600g floury potatoes, diced
• 2 tbsp horseradish
• 200g smoked trout fillets, flaked
• Handful of chopped green herbs such as chives or parsley
• Zest and juice of a lemon
• 200g panko breadcrumbs
• 3 eggs beaten
• 100g plain flour
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 10-20 minutes until tender. Drain and return to the pan to steam dry. Remove from the heat, add the horseradish, then mash together.

Gently stir in the flaked trout, chopped herbs, lemon zest and half the juice, then season. When the mixture is cool enough to handle, shape into eight fishcakes. Place the flour, beaten eggs and panko breadcrumbs into three separate bowls. Dust each fishcake lightly with flour, dip into the eggs and coat with breadcrumbs.

Heat the oil in a frying pan until hot, cook the fish cakes for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden and crisp – you may have to do this in batches. Serve with green beans or mushy peas, some extra lemon wedges on the side, and a glass of Poulton Hill Pinot Noir Rosé 2020.

Pan-fried trout with capers

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 trout fillets
1tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves pressed or finely chopped
Juice and zest a lemon
1tbsp of capers
1tbsp butter

Method

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Place the trout fillets in the pan, skin-side up. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn the fillets over and cook for another two minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and cover with a lid or foil. Let the trout sit for five to ten minutes depending on the size of the fillet.

Lift the fillets from the pan, leaving behind any oil from the fish, place on a plate and cover with foil while you make the sauce. Put the pan back on the medium heat and add the garlic, capers, grated lemon zest and the juice. Allow to heat gently for a minute then remove from the heat again and stir in the butter until it melts.

Spoon the sauce over the fillets and serve with couscous, green salad or green beans and a glass of Poulton Hill Vineyard’s Phoenix 2019.

Smoked trout fish pie

Serves 4

Ingredients

1½ tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
350ml milk
1-2 tbsp creamed horseradish
Small bunch dill, chopped
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
Small bunch of parsley, chopped
Zest of a lemon
4 smoked Bibury trout fillets, flaked
450g mashed potato

Heat the oven to 200C or 180C fan/ gas mark 6.

Method

Boil the potatoes and make mash.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Gradually stir in the milk and horseradish and heat until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the dill, the zest of the lemon and the spring onions. Season.

Share the flaked trout between four ramekins or one larger dish and then pour over the sauce. Mix the remaining spring onions with the mashed potato and spoon on top of the fish and sauce.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the mash is golden and the sauce is bubbling. Sprinkle over the chopped parsley.

Serve with salad, lemon wedges, brown bread and butter, and a glass of Poulton Hill Special Reserve White 2019.

Smoked trout salad with horseradish dressing

Serves 2

Ingredients

For the salad
2 smoked trout fillets
A bag of rocket leaves or other peppery salad
100g cherry tomatoes – halved
Half a cucumber – finely sliced and cut into half moons
2 bell peppers (yellow, red and/or green) chopped

For the dressing
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp hot horseradish sauce
1 lemon, 1/2 finely zested and juiced

Method

1. Flake the salmon
2. Mix with the rocket and other salad ingredients
3. Whisk the dressing ingredients together
4. Pour the horseradish dressing over the salad and mix well
5. Serve with the remaining half lemon cut into wedges

The white grape with green credentials

At Poulton Hill we grow grapes that you may not have heard of if you are a lover of French, Italian or New World wines.

Although many people now know Bacchus as a grape that has been embraced by the English wine industry, not so many will have heard of Phoenix. Indeed, according to Great British Vineyards Guide, UK vineyards produced 25.10 hectares of Phoenix in 2017, compared with 165.20 hectares devoted to Bacchus in the same year.

Phoenix is a hybrid grape, developed in Germany in the 1960s, which is a crossing of Bacchus with the hybrid grape Villard Blanc.

Like Bacchus, Phoenix grows incredibly well in a cool climate and is disease resistant. This means that fewer agrochemical treatments are needed for the vines, making it a more environmentally friendly option as well.

At Poulton Hill, our Phoenix wine is a blend of 85% Phoenix, with 15% Seyval Blanc. The Phoenix grapes are relatively big, making a lighter flavoured wine with high acidity and lower alcohol levels. Our Phoenix is just 10.5% ABV.

Poulton Hill Vineyard’s Phoenix has herbaceous hints and notes of lychee, elderberry and gooseberry, and it is a wonderful aperitive and a great accompaniment to fish, white meat and cheese.

We love Phoenix so much here at Poulton Hill, I even named my dog after the grape!

If you would like to try this wine, please click here.