Potato Latke, Smoked Trout, Horseradish Sour Cream, Shaved Fennel, and Pickled Beets

METHOD:

For the Smoked Trout:

Place the trout filets in a deep baking dish. Mix together the sugar, salt, dill, lemon zest, fennel seed, and black pepper. Sprinkle generously over the trout filets. Let cure for 4 hours, then rinse off cure and place the filets on an icing rack set on a plate to dry overnight. The next day, prepare the smoker with apple wood chips. Smoke fish for 2 hours at 125°F or until the fish is just cooked through. Let cool and remove the skin and flake the fish into small chunks.

For the Pickled Beets:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Put the beets in a roasting pan with rosemary, thyme, 2 tablespoons water, olive oil, and salt. Cover tightly with foil and roast for 30 minutes or until tender. Slightly cool beets and peel off skin with a towel while still warm. Cut each beet into 6 wedges. In a in a medium nonreactive saucepan, bring rice vinegar, remaining water, sugar, pickling spices, salt, and pepper to a boil. Pour hot liquid over beets and cool to room temperature or overnight. Strain off some of the pickling liquid from the red beets and reduce until it is a syrup consistency. Set aside to cool.

For the Horseradish Cream:

In a small mixing bowl, whisk crème fraîche, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, shallot, salt, and pepper until combined. Set aside.

For the Latkes:

Line 2 wire racks with paper towels. Using the large holes of a box grater or the shredding disk of a food processor, grate the potatoes and onion. Working over a small bowl, squeeze the liquid out of the potato and onion and transfer the grated vegetables to a medium bowl. Let the liquid stand for 5 minutes, and then carefully pour it off, leaving the potato starch at the bottom. Scrape the starch into the potato shreds. Add the eggs, flour, and salt. In 2 large nonstick skillets, heat ¼-inch of oil until shimmering. For each pancake, add a 1/3 cup of the batter to a skillet and flatten slightly. Cook the pancakes over moderately high heat until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to the prepared wire racks to drain. Let cool for a few minutes so the crème fraîche does not slide off when presenting.

To Assemble and Serve:

Shave fennel very thinly on mandolin. Toss with a little salt just before serving. Top a Latke with the Horseradish Cream, some Smoked Trout, and shaved fennel. Garnish with Pickled Beets and fennel fronds. Place on a plate and drizzle with reserved red pickling syrup.