bits and pieces

I pulled out the March issue of Sunset Magazine again, and tried a more breakfast-type recipe, but for dinner. It’s called Poached Eggs With Smoked Trout and Potato Hash, and though I wasn’t sure if I’d had trout before, I figured I could at least give it a try. Everything else looked tasty.

The prep work didn’t take too long, and I did some of it while the potatoes were cooking in the oven. Unfortunately, I’m not sure the eggs turned out great, since I hadn’t poached eggs before, but they were still edible, although there were wisps of egg white floating around for a bit.

The first bites were way too lemony, so either I used too much or didn’t mix it well enough. Everything else tasted just fine, but that lemon flavor really killed it for me. Ah well.

Here’s the recipe for reference:

Poached Eggs With Smoked Trout and Potato Hash

Time: 40 minutes.
Serves 2.

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-in. cubes
• 1/2 yellow onion (about 4 oz.), chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• About 1/4 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 ounces smoked trout fillet, skin pulled off
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 4 large eggs

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°. On a rimmed baking pan, mix potatoes with onion, olive oil, salt, paprika, and a few grinds of pepper. Bake, stirring a couple of times, until potatoes are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Crumble the fillet into bite-size pieces as you add it to the pan. Add dill and lemon juice and mix well, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan. Season hash with additional salt and pepper if you like and cover with foil to keep warm.
3. Bring a large, deep frying pan of lightly salted water to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a steady simmer. Crack one egg into a glass measuring cup, hold spout close to water’s surface, and let egg slip gently into water. Repeat with rest of eggs. Cook 3 minutes, or until eggs are softly set.
4. Divide hash between 2 plates. Using a slotted spoon, transfer 2 poached eggs onto each plateful of hash and sprinkle with pepper to taste.