Smoked trout and Gruyère soufflé tart

Sometimes you just need a quick and dirty meal to use up ingredients in your fridge and provide yourself with a little sustenance to keep working. David managed to get a deal from Whole Foods when buying fresh trout by scoring himself some free smoked rainbow trout. Mind you, I wasn't sure exactly what to do with it, until I stumbled across this tart recipe. It was a perfect opportunity for a relatively simple meal, using ingredients we already had.

Recipe

adapted from TartsMakes a 9" quiche8 oz smoked rainbow trout1-1/4 cups milk1 bay leaf2 tbsp butter2 tbsp all-purpose flour1/2 tsp ground nutmegwhite pepper4-1/2 oz Gruyère cheese, grated2 eggs, separated9" frozen pie shellPreheat oven to 375 F. Blind bake pie shell for 15 minutes. Meanwhile put trout, milk and bay leaf in a shallow skillet, bring to a simmering point, and poach for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat, discard bay leaf, and carefully lift out fish, reserving the milk. Let fish cool slightly and flake, discarding any bones or skin. Increase oven temperature to 400 F.Melt butter in a medium pan and stir in flour to make a roux. Gradually add reserved cooking milk, stirring well to combine, and cook for 5 minutes, until thickened. Stir in nutmeg and pepper and then the cheese. Remove sauce from heat, stir in egg yolks and fish, and let cool slightly. Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold quickly and lightly into the fish mixture. Immediately pour into the pie shell and bake for 15 minutes, until puffed up and browned. Remove tart from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Musings

A few notes on preparation: we got Applewood smoked Gruyère to go in it.Upon sampling the smoked Gruyère and smoked trout separately, we were concerned the quiche was going to pack a wallop and be too strong. However, the cream and milk helped to mellow out the flavours nicely, and it turned out to be quite delightful. So much so in fact that we were soon consumed by eating it, we completely forgot to document it prettily (hence the mid-meal photo). The beaten egg whites create a wonderfully light, fluffy texture. It was creamy, smoky and sweet. David was concerned it might have not quite set, so he would've likely baked it a touch longer. Other than that, a great, simple dinner (which made for a delicious lunch the next day as well).