Rainbow Trout, Salad & Cheese Sauce

Gently remove the bones from 1 rainbow trout fillet

Trim excess fat and bones. Slice it into 5 individual pieces

Add 1 l of water and 10 g of salt to a container. Whisk to dissolve

Add the trout fillets to the brine and refrigerate for 1h to lightly cure it

Prepare a smoker or a grill with charcoal and juniper greens as needed

Add the rainbow trout to the smoker over the juniper greens, skin-side down. Cover and smoke for about 2h until the internal temperature of the pieces reach 40 °C

Melt 3½ tbsp of butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat

Add 6 tbsp of all-purpose flour and whisk until smooth

Add 500 ml of milk while whisking. Let it cook for 15 minutes, mixing regularly, until it thickens

Season with salt to taste. The béchamel is ready

Add 100 g of aged, grated cheese. Stir to combine and melt the cheese

Add 1 tsp of white wine vinegar and stir. Remove from the heat. The cheese sauce is ready

Add 6 tbsp of milk to the cheese sauce and mix with a hand blender to create foam

Transfer the rainbow trout to a cutting board and remove the skin. The smoked rainbow trout is ready

Cut 2 small heads of lettuce in half. Season them with white wine vinegar and salt to taste

Spoon enough of the cheese sauce, along with the foam, to cover the bottom surface of a soup bowl

Plate a lettuce half and 1 smoked trout fillet. The rainbow trout, salad & cheese sauce is ready

Enjoy it on a summer night with a glass of wine!