Smoked trout with fennel pesto and buttery croutons

Ask the butcher for trout without pin bones, or pull them out with fish tweezers, dipping the tweezers in a cup of water to keep them clean.

For the cure, mix chopped parsley and thyme with the salt, sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl, working it well with the hands.

Turn the trout flesh side up, generously cover and massage the fillets with the cure, and leave 15 to 20 minutes, until the flesh is a little stiffer.

Rinse each fillet with cold water to remove the excess salt and sugar and lay on a dry paper towel.

Break a few charcoal briquettes into small even pieces and spread in one layer on a half sheet tray; light with a chimney starter or a torch, outdoors.

Set a rack over the hot coals, lay the trout on it skin side down, cover with another sheet tray and smoke-cook 7 to 10 minutes at an ambient heat of around 200F; the coals must not be so hot that they grill the fish.

The trout is done when the skin lifts easily off the corner of a fillet. Remove the skin and hold the fish on a tray drizzled with olive oil; cover and refrigerate if not using right away.

For the fennel pesto, chop capers, fennel tops, halved pine nuts and sliced lemon zest; add black pepper and a generous drizzle of olive oil, stir and set aside.

For the croutons, dice the pre-toasted bread with finely chopped rosemary, a pinch of salt and cracked black pepper; toss and set in a bowl.

Trim the edges of a trout fillet for clean cuts on both sides.

Smear the pesto in a circle on a plate, lay thin slices of fennel bulb tossed in pesto on it, drizzle the trout with olive oil, season with fleur de sel or sea salt and cracked pepper, and set it on the fennel.

Heat a sauce pot on high for 2 minutes, take it off the heat, add a few cubes of butter to brown for a second, then add the bread.

Top the trout with a few spoonfuls of the buttery croutons, garnish with picked herbs and finish with a squeeze of lemon.