2166. ARCTIC CHAR with BACON, BEETS, WHITEFISH CAVIAR and NEW POTATO SALAD

serves four


16 small new potatoes, boiled, cooled, and cut in quarters
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
8 strips boar bacon or regular bacon, chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 skinless Arctic char fillets (each 6 oz) cut in half crosswise
6 tablespoons finely chopped pickled beets

In a bowl, gently toss potatoes with sour cream and dill. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. Line a plate with a paper bag. In a frying pan, sauté bacon on medium-high heat until crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and transfer to the paper bag–lined plate to drain. Reserve the bacon fat. Spread flour on a plate. Season both sides of Arctic char with salt and pepper, then dredge in the flour, shaking off any excess. Reheat bacon fat in the frying pan on medium-high heat. When the fat is hot, add fillets and pan-fry on one side until golden, about 3 minutes. Turn fillets over and cook about 3 minutes more. To serve arrange potato salad in the middle of each plate. Place a fillet atop each mound of salad. Spoon whitefish caviar around the base of the salad, then sprinkle with beets and bacon.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Terry Gereta, Mise Restaurant, 842 Corydon Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba | a good catch: Sustainable Seafood Recipes from Canada's Top Chefs by Jill Lambert