Scrambled eggs with smoked trout & horseradish hollandaise

There's difficult times ahead of us... I don't know about you, but I am deeply affected by the current financial turmoil. And I don't even have a mortgage! But it was this weekend that I had to realise that the times where I can have a leisurely weekend breakfast with my husband are probably over for quite some time to come. After the Lehman Brothers' acquisition, I'll be lucky if I can share any meal at all with him. And I hate eating by myself - despite my food addiction, if I can't share these indulging moments with anyone, I'd rather not eat.

Lucky, then, that we could still enjoy Saturday morning... with smoked trout scrambled eggs and a horseradish hollandaise, served on malt beer & onion bread inspired by a recipe in Nicky's brand-new cook book delicious days. When her book reached me two weeks ago, I literally ran out of post-it notes... and lost a whole morning of work because I couldn't resist reading it from cover to cover. I have earmarked so many recipes ("drunken" duck breast, pumpkin seed semifreddo, basil gnocci, home-made grissini, lime & matcha cookies, duck pate with porcini and pistachios, the list goes on) I don't even know when I'll be able to try them. The book is a real gem, stunning pictures (as is to be expected) with EVERY recipe, personal stories and some real good recipes - an inspiration all around. It's not yet sold on amazon.com or co.uk, but you can order and English (or German) version on amazon.de. I promise you won't be disappointed and if you like it as much as me, chances are that that's your Christmas presents sorted!

In other news, I am test-"driving" a Miele steam oven at the moment and despite only receiving it last Friday, I have already tried so many things... recipes and comments to follow soon. This breakfast was actually made in the steam oven as well - although I would say that scrambled eggs or anything needing constant stirring is probably not what you'd buy this oven for... but I have been putting it on at least 4-5 times a day for various tasks and I am loving it. Now, I choose my gadgets wisely (most of the time) and, learning from past mistakes, I have reached a point where I will only actually buy something that I know I will use often. Unlike unwise purchases made in the past (deep fryer and breadmaker being just two examples), the last thing I splashed out on over 18 months ago was the Thermomix and I still use it almost every day - for this wonderful horseradish hollandaise, for example. So expect more lean steam cuisine from this blog... if I can find a dinner companion replacement any time soon, that is ;-)

Scrambled eggs with smoked trout & horseradish hollandaise
(serves 2)

4 large eggs (organic and free-range, por supuesto!)
100 ml milk
50 g butter
100 g smoked trout fillet
dill sprigs (to decorate)

For the horseradish hollandaise:
130 g butter
4 egg yolks
juice of half a lemon
50 ml water
1 tbsp freshly grated horseradish root
salt & white pepper to taste

If you are the lucky owner of a Thermomix, put all ingredients for the hollandaise, except the horseradish, in the bowl, set to 80C, speed 2 and cook for 4-6 minutes (depending on how cold your butter and eggs are to start with).
If not, combine the ingredients in a heat-proof bowl, place over a pot of simmering water and beat with a whisk until set and smooth (that'll coincide with the time your arm feels like it's going to drop off).
Stir in the horseradish and keep warm until ready to serve.

Warm the trout fillet slightly (steam oven, microwave, oven, whatever you have at hand). Shred with a fork into bite-sized pieces.

For the scrambled eggs, heat half of the butter in a frying pan. Gently beat the eggs and milk. Dice the remaining butter, add to the eggs and pour into the pan. Over a medium to small flame, cook the eggs, gently stirring with a whisk. When they start to set, take them off the heat and continue to stir until they're cooked through, but still creamy and soft. Fold in the trout fillet, then arrange on a plate, drizzle with the hollandaise and decorate with some dill.

Serve immediately with toasted bread.

Comments

[Antonia]

Smoked trout is such a favourite of mine and the horseradish hollondaise sounds superb.
Most of my meals are cooked just for me (the man of my dreams has yet to put in an appearance!) and I make sure that I don't compromise just because I'm cooking for one. In fact I see it as the perfect excuse to indulge in whatever I fancy!

[Pille]

Oh, the Thermomix again :) I am tempted, but cannot justify buying one just now..
I agree smoked trout + horseradish hollandaise sounds pretty good indeed..

[Hande]

I was gonna ask how you are doing with the crisis, so now you were quicker.... Btw, the pumpkin seed semifreddo, you gotto do it now!, you'll love it, I've made it 10 times till now (I was a tester and have the recipe for some months now) and everyone loved it - even some food journalist who had said he doesn't like dessert.

[aforkfulofspaghetti]

Yep, that's doing it for me...

[Deborah Dowd]

This sounds really awesome- I love smoked trout and the horseradish hollandaise sounds fabulous!

[FoodJunkie]

Difficult times need lush food, that's what I SAY!

[Jeanne]

Oh how wonderful this sounds! Can we have this when I come over for our sleepover in Nov??

[Jude]

Never heard of a Thermomix but it immediately looks useful to me. Thanks for the info!

[dirtykitchensecrets]

How delicious! I love smoked trout and hollandaise!!! UM UM UM!!!

[Discover Unearthed]

It's important to enjoy the good things in life through this credit crunch of ours - especially the good AND cheap things! Enjoyed the post as usual - thanks. More talk of good things (food mainly) and light-hearted look at the credit crunch on http://discoverunearthed.wordpress.com

[barbara]

I've got a thermomix. I love it. I've only had it a month so still learning how to get the best from it.