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How do you cook your trout? I do it the same way every time and I'm looking for a change. I filet it, salt and sugar the meat, wait 30-40 minutes, maybe dredge, and then fry in the pan. I also spoon meat what's left on the bone and make a pattie mixed with some flour.
Boiling it seems so simple, and I've never done it. It's splake season now so I'm wondering about trying it, or if you've got any other good ways.
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Caught two Brook/Splake (can't really tell the difference) on our recent September trip.
First one was quite large so I gutted it (cut/scrape out the blood line or it will taste fishy), then cut into steaks about 1/2-3/4" thick and pan fried it in olive oil with salt and pepper. Fillet near the tail when it gets too small to cut into steaks.
Second one was smaller (~13"). I gutted it, removed the head, then rubbed with oil and salt/pepper and cooked on a grate over the fire. The best part of this method is that all the bones pull right out when done. This is the easiest method by far, but hard to penetrate with seasoning if that's what you're in to. Still tastes great, just different than pan fried, more like baked I suppose. You can stuff the cavity with garlic/lemon/etc. if you have it with you.
Cleaning like that is much easier than trying to fillet in my opinion. I'm not great at filleting (especially trout) so this works out well for me since it's really hard to mess up and has virtually zero waste. Since there are no scales, I just leave the skin on. When cutting the head, don't cut all the way down and you can pull everything out together with your thumb for easy disposal.
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Yes I have boiled some specks I caught in Phillip Lake. They were tasty and I would definitely recommend doing so.
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kkosik wrote:
...Second one was smaller (~13"). I gutted it, removed the head, then rubbed with oil and salt/pepper and cooked on a grate over the fire. The best part of this method is that all the bones pull right out when done...
This is how I usually do it but I often wrap them in foil (with butter salt & pepper) & put them in the coals rather than on the grill.
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Yes I have boiled some specks I caught in Phillip Lake. They were tasty and I would definitely recommend doing so.
How did you boil them? Recipes I've seen have been 1) mix a lot of butter with a little water and some herby stuff and poach and 2) make a broth with herby stuff and plop the cleaned fish in whole.
I've tried the butter poach at home but it seems like a waste of butter.
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Caught ... I'm not great at filleting (especially trout) so this works out well for me since it's really hard to mess up and has virtually zero waste. Since there are no scales, I just leave the skin on. When cutting the head, don't cut all the way down and you can pull everything out together with your thumb for easy disposal.
2 things:
1 - You don't have to worry about waste anymore because 'spoon meat.' You can scrape off anything left on the bones after a filet cut with a spoon. Go back towards the tail. It's like ground/minced trout. Shape it into a heart-shaped pattie and give it to the kid you like best, or the one who will actually eat it.
2 - I don't discard the head. I like the cheek meat and the collar meat goes pretty high up too. I also like the fat right where the fins meet the body.
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I have tried cooking trout every way possible and yes, French cuisine has a classic boiled trout recipe called Au Bleu. Google that and give it a try, basically you first make vegetable broth then poach fresh trout with skin on in it.
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I have a fish cake recipe that calls for Poached fillets, mostly use for Bass and Walleye but have used for Trout, it was roughly for 5-7 mins in Boiling water, I do season the water, you could eat it like this or add to the fish cakes.
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