ingredients
serves 8
about 2 pounds sea salt
6 - 8 garlic cloves (unpeeled)
6 tbsp chopped tarragon
6 trout, gutted, with heads and tails intact
Tarragon Sauce
2 cups carton creme fraiche
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
salt and pepper
2 tbsp chopped tarragon
to serve
lemon wedges
method
1. Line a roasting tin with foil and add enough salt to make a 1/2 inch layer. Scatter the garlic and about half the tarragon over the salt, then place the fish on top. Press the trout down into the salt, scatter over the remaining tarragon, then cover completely with the remaining salt.
2. Bake at 220°C (fan oven 200°C) for about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. To serve warm, combine the ingredients except the tarragon in a pan, bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes, adding the tarragon just before serving. To serve cold, simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
4. Remove the fish from the oven and crack the salt crust open. Carefully lift out the trout on to a board and peel away the skin. Serve with lemon wedges and the tarragon sauce.
5 users have helped to rate this recipe.
more information
Baking fish in a salt crust is a great way to seal in the natural flavours and keep the fish moist. You can serve the fish cold if you like, but the salt and skin must be removed before chilling, otherwise the fish will taste salty.
