Chicken Fried Rainbow Trout with Gribiche and Pickled Vegetables

• 4 cups warm water
• ⅓ cup distilled white vinegar or rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• ½ lb. carrots, julienned or cut into thin match-like strips
• ½ lb. daikon radish, cut same as carrots
• ¼ cup red radishes, sliced
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 4 (5-6 oz.) Riverence Rainbow Trout fillets
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons cornichons, finely chopped
• 1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• 2 teaspoons tarragon, chopped, optional
• Vegetable Oil, for frying
• 1 cup superfine white rice flour
• 1 cup corn starch
• 3 tablespoons fresh dill, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoons salt
• Garnish: fresh dill, chopped chives, deep fried capers

1. In large pitcher or large bowl, mix warm water and vinegar together. Add sugar and salt, stirring until dissolved.
2. Place carrots, daikon and radishes in a clean, sterile jar and fill with brine until the jar is full. Cover and set in the refrigerator to pickle for about 3 days. Pickles can last for about 3 weeks.
3. Pour buttermilk into a 9×13 baking dish. Place the trout fillets in the buttermilk and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 2 to 4 hours.
4. While the rainbow trout fillets marinate, mix salt, mustard, vinegar, mayonnaise, cornichons, egg and black pepper in a bowl. Cool in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, taste and adjust seasonings to your liking. Mix in parsley. If desired, add tarragon.
5. When ready to cook trout, set out a cooking rack with paper towels underneath to collect excess oil from fried trout fillets.
6. In a separate large bowl, mix together rice flour, corn starch, dill, garlic powder and salt.
7. If you are frying in a fryer, heat to 350° Fahrenheit. If you are frying in a shallow pan, heat oil to 350° Fahrenheit. Use a thermometer for accuracy and be sure to check temperature between batches.
8. Remove one trout fillet from the marinade at a time. Drain off the excess buttermilk by holding it up over the dish. Dredge trout in the flour mixture and then place in the fryer.
9. Fry fillets until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Set on the cooling rack to drain and keep crisp.
10. Place ¼ cup of the pickled vegetables on a plate and place one cooked trout fillet on top and garnish with deep fried capers if desired, fresh dill, chives, and a side of gribiche for dipping. Alternatively, serve with lettuce cups to make wraps.

Takes 4 hours and 30 minutes, Serves 4.