Smoked trout nicoise salad

Wipe the slime off the trout inside and out; remove the head (it can go to fish stock).

Fillet: cut along the back line just above the dorsal fin, run the knife straight down to the spine, then lift the fillet off the bones.

Pin-bone with fish tweezers; run the knife just under the belly bones, pulling up and towards you, and trim off the belly membrane.

Lightly cure the fillets with kosher salt and a little lemon zest, 15 to 20 minutes, so the flesh firms up and releases moisture.

Boil small new potatoes in salted water until just short of fork tender, a little al dente.

Boil two eggs for 10 minutes for hard boiled eggs; pull them and let them cool.

Drain the potatoes onto a towel-lined tray (or a rack) and let them dry about five minutes so they shed their water.

Toss the potatoes in a bowl with a good amount of red wine vinegar, salt and a little olive oil to pickle them.

Lay the cured fillets lengthwise on a rack and take them outside to smoke: let the fuel smolder, put it out once it has heat, let it smoke, and cover with the trout. Lightly smoke, then cool about 15 minutes; the fish stays slightly cooked, like rare to medium rare.

Peel off the skin while warm (it can be saved and fried or baked into crispy trout skin).

Portion the trout in straight clean slices, coat with a little oil so they do not dry out, and refrigerate.

Mix olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper with chopped fennel tops for the vegetables.

Cut the romaine hearts on the bias into diamonds; combine with the tomatoes, a few kalamata olives, fennel tops and olive oil, using lemon juice instead of vinegar, and black pepper.

Season the spread with a little lemon zest, fennel tops, pepper and lemon juice.

Dress the trout with a little more oil, pink flaky salt and coarse black pepper; dress the eggs the same way.

Plate: spread the lemon spread on the plate, arrange the leaves and tomatoes, and the potatoes, eggs and trout.