A F E A S T F O R A N A L L E Y C A T
something about eating cured or smoked fish in the morning does something for me.
when i lived in New York a million years ago, i loved going to The Ear Inn by myself for either an early or late lunch at the bar - anything to avoid a crowd - i love dining alone.
they have smoked rainbow trout with horseradish cream, hearty pieces of toast, + pickled onions.
that and an ice cold beer would make everything right as rain.
consider this an homage to the Ear for making everything better with such consistency.
SMOKED TROUT TOAST
3-4 oz smoked trout
slice of good dark seedy bread - i’m a sucker for Danish seeded rye when I can find it but it’s a hot commodity - anything dark, dense, + or seedy will fit the bill
1 tbsp creme fraîche or sour cream
1 tsp fresh horseradish - jarred works too
6-8 ish capers - your call
sliced or minced shallot
fresh dill
salt + pepper
fresh squeezed lemon
TOAST THAT BREAD!
in the meantime, whip together the creme fraîche and horseradish with a squeeze of lemon juice.
smear on the toast.
place smoked fish on top of the cream + dress with the following:
dot with capers
shallot bits
torn dill
fresh ground pepper
feel free to also add things like:
baby tomato slices
cucumber slices
caper berries
anything bright and fresh that you love - this is supposed to be easy and a good way to move through anything that you have laying around - sometimes, I will sear whatever is fresh and lay that under the fish. make it yours!