The Southern Spread: Saturday

SMOKED TROUT POTATO SALAD

One of the early salads I came up with when I was the chef at the One Flew South was created as a way to highlight the Georgia trout, a Southern ingredient that I could get easily from a local vendor. When I worked on creating this recipe, I had to “smuggle” the fish past security in order to get it into the kitchen because the airport didn’t allow vendors to bring their food in through security checkpoints. Now I like to use packaged smoked trout because it makes the preparation quick and easy.  

SERVES 4

Dressing

• 1⁄4 cup mayonnaise

• 1/2 cup sour cream

• 1/2 cup buttermilk

• 1 tablespoon lime juice

• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic

• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad

• 1 (8-ounce) package smoked trout, skin removed, and broken into bite-size pieces

• 1 pound fingerling potatoes, blanched and cut in half

• 1/2 cup fresh peas, blanched (or frozen peas, if you can’t get fresh)

• 1/4 bunch flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

• 1/3 cup fresh dill

• 1/3 cup torn fresh mint leaves

• 1 shallot, shaved on a mandoline

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled

• and cut into 4 wedges

Directions:

To make the dressing, stir together the mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk, lime juice, garlic, and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl. Taste and add salt and pepper.

To make the salad, in a large bowl toss together the trout, potatoes, peas, parsley, dill, mint, shallot, and olive oil. Divide the mixture onto plates, drizzle with the dressing, and top off with the eggs.

Notes: To blanch the peas, cook them in boiling water for 30 seconds to 2 minutes, until they float to the top. You aren’t required to plate this dish, that’s just how I conceived it for the restaurant. You can serve it from a large decorative serving bowl for a home dinner party, or chilled on ice for a tailgate party. If you can get your hands on some pea tendrils that would be a nice touch.