EXPAND YOUR GRILL REPERTOIRE
Try a fish dish by barbecuing whole trout wrapped in bacon and serving it with zucchini
GRILLED BACON- WRAPPED TROUT
Serves: 4
■ 4 whole trout, snapper or
branzino, about 1 lb/450 g each, gutted and cleaned (see note)
■ Olive oil
■ Fine salt
■ Freshly ground black pepper
■ 4 to 8 sprigs fresh tarragon,
plus more for serving
■ 12 thin slices centre-cut hicko-ry-smoked bacon, room temperature, plus more as needed
■ 2 zucchini (about 1 1/4 lbs/560 g total)
1. Pat the fish dry. Brush inside and out with olive oil and lightly season with salt and pepper. Divide the tarragon into 4 equal amounts and place inside the fish.
2. Starting with the head of one fish, just behind the eye, begin to wrap the bacon around the circumference of the fish, slightly overlapping each layer to cover the fish skin. Each fish should take about three pieces of bacon to wrap; more if your fish is larger. Stop wrapping when you reach the last inch of the tail. Repeat with remaining fish.
3. Wash, trim and halve the zucchini lengthwise. Slice each half lengthwise again, into 1/4-inch (6-mm) thick pieces, then cut each piece in half for easy handling. Place on a plate or platter, brush with oil and lightly season with salt and pepper.
4. Preheat the grill for indirect, medium-heat grilling (see note).
5. Place the fish in the centre of the cooking grate over indirect heat and arrange the zucchini slices around the fish. Cover and grill for 10 minutes.
6. Transfer the zucchini to a platter and cover it to keep it warm. (Or, if you want the zucchini very soft, flip it and continue cooking.) If necessary, rotate the fish (see note) and continue to cook for about 10 minutes more, or until the bacon is crisp, and the fish flakes and is cooked through.
7. Transfer the fish to a platter, sprinkle with tarragon leaves, and serve family-style with the zucchini.
Notes: If your fish are larger than a pound, they may need to cook for a bit longer and you may need an additional strip of bacon.
It is best to put the fish in the centre of the grates, so it has even heat on the left and right, and air can move evenly around the food, like a convection oven. If the size or configuration of your grill makes that impossible, you may find that the fish is browning too much on one side after the first 10 minutes. If so, move and rotate the fish so the cooler side is near the heat source (or hotter coals). It is not necessary to flip the fish, but you can if you like.
To prep your gas grill for indirect-heat grilling: Cover and preheat with all burners on high. When ready to cook, if using a three-burner grill, turn the middle burner off and reduce the heat on the other burners to medium-high.
Many two-burner grills are set up for indirect heat, so you can simply place the food in the centre of the cooking grate. Heat one burner to medium-high and leave the other one off. The temperature of the grill should be about 400 F (205 C).
If using a charcoal grill: Fill two chimney starters with charcoal, light them, and when the coals are ashed over, arrange them on either side of the pan, leaving an empty spot in the middle. If your grill is too small to allow for an
empty spot, push the coals to one side, leaving the other side empty. Replace the cooking grate and set an oven or grill thermometer on top. Cover the grill. You are aiming for a temperature of between 400 and 450 F (205 to 230 C). Recipe adapted from grilling specialist and cookbook author Elizabeth Karmel, co-author of the newsletter whats4dinner.