Potted trout served with homemade melba toast

Place the fish in a large pan, cover with milk and add the rest of the ingredients.

Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Half way through the cooking time turn the fillet over to make sure it is cooked through. Remove the trout from the pan and set aside to cool. Strain the poaching liquid and keep aside about 80ml of the flavourful liquid.

Flake the trout into large juicy pieces. In a large mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients for the potted mixture and at the end carefully fold through the trout flakes. Taste the mixture and season accordingly with salt and pepper.

In a saucepan, place the unsalted butter and gently heat until the butter has melted. Separate the milk solids with a spoon and you will be left with a beautiful golden liquid which is known as clarified butter. Strain through a fine sieve and allow to cool slightly. Fill the pots you have chosen with the potted trout leaving a gap of ½ cm at the top. Use the back of a teaspoon to smooth the surface of the mixture. Pour the clarified butter over the top and place a sprig of dill in the middle.

Place in the fridge and serve the next day with homemade melba toast.

Makes enough mixture to fill 4 x 200ml ramekins.

To make the melba toast, simply take white sandwich bread and cut off the crusts.

With a rolling pin, roll out the bread until it is completely smooth and has flattened to about 3 ml. If the bread has gone out of shape while rolling, just trim with a sharp knife. Cut into your desired shape and bake in a hot pre-heated oven (200°C), turning the melba toast every few seconds to make sure it becomes golden evenly.