Simple preparation suits fresh rainbow trout best
It’s spring, and you know what that means: It’s trout fishing season.
Thousands of anglers will be seeking the best fishing spots in streams and lakes in their areas.
The ones who get lucky and land a trout that’s at least 7 inches? They’re probably already dreaming of how to cook it.
Fresh trout’s soft and flaky flesh is so wonderfully delicate and fresh tasting that you don’t have to get fancy with other ingredients. In fact, simpler is often better when it comes to this member of the salmon family — that’s right — salmon.
While the word “trout” conjures up a particular fish, it’s actually the common name given to a number of species of freshwater fish belonging to the salmon family.
The brook trout, which is native to eastern North America, is Pennsylvania’s official state fish, but anglers also can catch brown trout, which made its way to colonial America in the 19th century, along with oilier lake trout and the colorful rainbow trout; if they’re ocean-going, the fish are called steelhead.
And if you don’t fish? No problem.
All rainbow trout sold in the U.S., in fact, are farm raised, so there’s no shame in letting the professionals catch it for you.
Trout have a lot of tiny bones, so ask your fishmonger to remove the backbone or filet the fish boned, advised Henry Dewey, coowner of Penn Avenue Fish Co. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Cooking the trout whole, with its bones still in, is a tastier preparation, he said.
After grilling it or panfrying it, “most people just eat around the bones,” Dewey said.
Fresh trout have a nice protective slime on their skin when it comes of out the water, so choose fish that look slippery on the outside, Dewey said. It should also have a nice color and firm flesh.
“Use your animal senses to see if it looks fresh,” he said.
Fishermen like to get their catch into the frying pan without a whole lot of fuss. This recipe fits the bill in that it’s incredibly easy, both in preparation (all you need is a hot frying pan) and in the list of ingredients (just a handful).
You also can broil it on a foil-lined pan for 4 to 6 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through for even cooking. Or grill it over medium heat for 5 minutes per side. I used orange zest but lime zest would work well, too.
Recipe adapted from “In the Kitchen with the Pike Place Fish Guys” by the Crew of Pike Place Fish (Avery; 2013)
PAN-FRIED RAINBOW TROUT WITH CRISPY SAGE AND BROWN BUTTER
Makes 4 servings
Preheat cast-iron pan on stove to medium-hot.
Score each trout three or four times per side. Brush with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
When pan is hot, lightly brush with olive oil. Place trout in pan skin-side down and cook for 3 minutes, then carefully flip with a thin wide spatula. Cook for 3 minutes more, until fish is opaque. The trout are ready when there are no red spots visible in the cavities of the fish. Remove the trout, cover with foil, and keep warm.
Heat butter in a saute pan over low heat, and cook until the butter turns golden brown. Add the sage and cook until crisp. Add pecans and orange zest, and season with salt and pepper.
Divide cooked trout between warmed plates and top with the bubbling butter. Serve immediately.
767 calories, 48 g protein, 4 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 1 g sugars, 64 g fat (20 saturated), 197 mg cholesterol, 373 mg sodium