Food glorious food

A busy weekend was had by all who were involved in the Waterford Harvest Festival. What a success, the thousands of people that came to talk, taste and be teased by the smells of food being cooked on the South Quays yesterday made me a proud Waterford Man.
There was some fantastic artisan producers selling their wears yesterday, from cheese, sausages, honey, beef, lamb, vegetables and fish. I cooked trout last night and sausages this morning all bought at the market, fantastic no middle man straight from the producer to the table. That in my opinion is the way to go.
Slow Food sent a delegation from Italy and the UK and these passionate people were blown away with what they witnessed in Waterford. I have said this before but we as a country have some of the best food producers in the world. They should be supported and encouraged by all of us.
Now for a simple recipe that involves pan fried trout, roasted beetroot and rocket.
If you can get sea trout from your fishmonger you are in luck otherwise ask him for a couple of fillets of fresh trout. Pick up some raw beetroot and some nice rocket.
The first thing to do is to wash the beetroot, do not remove the root or stalks, this will prevent the colour from draining out of the vegetable. Wrap the beetroot in tinfoil with some sea salt, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Put this into the oven at 170c for at least twenty minutes. While this is going on get your salad together and prep the fish by getting as many bones out of it as possible. A handy tool to do this is a very small long headed pliers or a tweezers.
Season the fish with salt and pepper and pan fry in hot olive oil skin side down first. Just before you turn the fish over add a knob of butter. The fish will cook very quickly so be careful not to overcook it. Now take the beetroot and peel them with your hands slice them and arrange them on a plate length ways, put the trout on top and serve with rocket.
Q. tip: Mackerel can also be used with beetroot and rocket.