i love summer, and i love trout season. in fact, trout is by far my favorite fish to catch and to eat. don't get me wrong, the 'stockies' are good, but nothing quite beats a native brown trout. pink fleshed like a salmon and twice as fresh.
Eating Fresh trout is a process much like eating raw oysters. there is a little bit of work for all the fun.
you are ready to grill
to eat, pull back the top layer of skin and jimmy your fork under the flesh of the fillet, but above the rib bones and lift off. once the spine is exposed, pull the entire structure from by the tail up and off the bottom fillet and eat meat from the skin.
Stream Caught Trout with Salt Spuds
4 Red Potatoes
4 Tablespoons Coarse Sea Salt ( I prefer a Hawaiian Salt) 4 Tablespoons oil 4 Trout, Cleaned and Gutted 4 Teaspoons Each (a Teaspoon per fish): Thyme, Garlic Powder, Black Pepper, and a Dash of Parsley 1 Lemon, sliced thinly 4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice (1 Table to each fish) 1 Teaspoon Liquid Smoke (1/4 Tea to each fish) Optional: 2 Tablespoons White Wine |
start your grill or heat oven to 350
First take your red spuds and poke them all over with a fork. lay them on a sheet of tinfoil, sprinkle with Hawaiian salt and drizzle with olive oil. massage the potatoes and roll up in the foil. place over heat and close lid clean out your trout fully, making sure to remove and rinse all black 'stuff' from inside the fish. don't worry about scaling the fish as this recipe does not render a crispy skin. now lay each fish on their own sheet of tin foil. i give them each a sheet for two reasons; one, fish cook extremely fast, the size of each fish, no matter how small the difference, will create a huge difference in the texture of the meat. by separating the fish into separate packets you allow for each fish to be checked and pulled from the heat accordingly. Second reason is presentation, which i explained above. open the fish up and sprinkle half the seasoning over the inside of the fillets, tops with thinly sliced lemon. close the fish up sprinkle with remaining seasoning and lemon slices. bring the edges of the foil up and add the lemon juice, liquid smoke (and a bit of white wine if you like) to the packets. fold over the top of the foil and leave a pocket inside which the steam can accumulate and cook the fish. place the packets on the grill (or in the oven) and check after 8 minutes. when fish flakes easily but is still moist, remove from the oven and let rest wrapped until serving (15 minutes tops) to eat, pull back the top layer of skin and jimmy your fork under the flesh of the fillet, but above the rib bones and lift off. once the spine is exposed, pull the entire structure from by the tail up and off the bottom fillet and eat meat from the skin. remove the potatoes when they are pliable and smell like french fries. served with lemon and coleslaw...enjoy! |