Trout

Eat in the light, clean, Mediterranean tradition for meals that are low in fat but high in flavor. Vary this recipe by using other vegetables such as eggplant, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and mushrooms or by replacing the fish with chicken, strip steak, or even seitan (a wheat product found near the tofu in the refrigerated section of the health food store). This recipe has an elegance that will impress your guests. I like to use an oval Dutch oven with fish fillets simply because they tend to fit better. However, to make a long fillet fit into a round pot, simply cut the fillet into two or three pieces and lay them side by side. You can easily skip the wine in this recipe and still have a great-tasting meal, but if you do use wine, try a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc that you would happily drink rather than a “cooking wine.”

This recipe was born in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee where, as kids, we went camping with our parents. We caught fresh trout, and Mama cooked them right up on the grill in foil packs. It was the best-tasting fish we’d ever had. If we’re making this over a campfire, we serve it on its own. At home, it goes well with green beans.

Trout is a freshwater fish, the majority of which swim in the rivers of Idaho and North Carolina. Because it’s so commonly farmed, trout is available in markets year-round. It’s a meaty fish with a naturally salty flavor, and it takes well to smoking. I like to eat smoked trout as a main dish with a little garlic butter on top and some cheese biscuits on the side. It’s also really good in a sandwich with some horseradish, or mixed into a dip with a little mayonnaise and sour cream.

Back when I was in high school we hung out at Estella’s Tavern on Moonbeam Street. It had Formica tables, walls covered halfway with variegated shag carpet and then mirrored the rest of the way up, low lighting, and a hell of a jukebox that had the Nat King Cole song “Sweet Lorraine” on it. I remember some very-late-night meals of pan trout (which was most likely whiting) doused with hot sauce, fried, crisp, and served on slices of white bread—completed, of course, by cold beer in a can. Man, oh man, were those delicious! Pan trout are what we call just about any fish small enough to fit in a little skillet. Giving the fish fillets a coating of white bread crumbs and a good shot of hot sauce whisks me back in time and has me humming “Sweet Lorraine.”

Not far from Joe’s Mountain Gardens in Celo is Canton, a mill town that is home to Sunburst Trout Farm (see Sources, page 264), where Sally Eason raises delicate pink trout in the pure water that rushes down Cold Mountain. If a campfire is not in your immediate future but you have some sparkling fresh trout, this works well on the stovetop, too. Serve it with wilted ramps (page 27) or other greens.

Fresh ginger and garlic are perfect seasonings for grilled trout.

This delightful jewish recipe adapted from one by the famous Provençal food writer Jean-Noël Escudier in his La Véritable Cuisine Provençale et Niçoise uses matzo meal to coat the trout, which is stuffed with spinach and sorrel, or, if you like, Swiss chard. Trout was and still is found in ponds on private property in Provence and throughout France. This particular recipe is served at Passover by the Jews of Provence.

You can use almost any fish steaks here—salmon, kingfish, cod, haddock, swordfish, salmon, trout, pomfret, pompano, or tilefish—depending on the part of the world you live in. Instead of having to look for ajowan seeds (use 1/4 teaspoon, if you can get them), you can use dried thyme, which has the same flavor. When using the blender here, make sure you put the chopped red pepper in first, as that will provide the liquid needed to make a paste. If your blender remains stubborn, add a tablespoon or two of water. You could serve this with Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash with Cumin, and Bulgar Pilaf with Peas and Tomato.

Here I use boneless fish fillets with skin—porgies, red snapper, mackerel, bluefish, gray mullet, redfish, trout, or anything else of modest size. If the fillets are too long, I cut them into convenient 3–4-inch lengths so I can turn them easily in a frying pan. The spicy undercoat is made simply in a food processor or chopper, though you could chop finely by hand if you prefer. If you want to keep the meal simple, serve this fish with Potato Chaat and Spinach with Garlic and Cumin or a salad.

This is the definition of minimalist Thai cooking. The steam not only gently cooks the fish until just tender but also creates an instant, complex sauce from a handful of basic ingredients. Scoring the fish's flesh allows more of the flavor to season the fish and facilitates faster steaming. The fish is cooked on a plate that fits inside the steamer, to catch the juices.

This is a classic Scandinavian-style smørrebrød.

If canned chipotles are not available, simply use the same amount of chipotle hot sauce. Tilapia, branzino, or petrale sole are other fish that would work in this complete meal.

Grated zucchini gives these fritters a fresh flavor and a tender texture. Excellent served with Champagne.

Farm-raised rainbow trout are stuffed with crabmeat and vegetables in this popular chef's special from Legal's Bethesda, Maryland, restaurant. You can prepare the stuffing a few hours ahead of time and refrigerate it.

In this handheld treat, carrots, cucumbers, and smoked trout are tossed in a hot, sweet, and tangy sauce. For a simple side, steam some plain or sticky rice in the microwave, then chill it and mix in some chopped green onions, chopped fresh mint, lime juice, chili-garlic sauce, and a touch of soy sauce or fish sauce. For dessert, serve mango sorbet or fresh pineapple and mango slices.

If you've got some fresh-caught trout, we know just what to do with it. This incredible main-plus-side requires very few ingredients and is easy enough to make at your campsite or cabin. (And you can use store-bought, too: In that case, you should ask your fishmonger to bone and butterfly the whole trout for you.)

Trout rule the mountain streams of America. I remember the fantastic flavor of freshly caught trout in Wyoming cooked over a campfire. They were so delicious, we had trout for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This recipe echoes that experience, sans the stinging nettles and porcupines. If you like, you could also stuff the trout with an herb or horseradish butter, fresh lemon slices, or a cornbread stuffing. As for the smoking, for trout I prefer the sweeter smoke flavor of alder or even grapevine, which you can gather from the wild or buy as prepackaged wood chips. I use them dry in this recipe, as the trout doesn't take long to smoke. This recipe works for any whole, cleaned fish; the rule of thumb for smoking is 30 minutes per pound at 225° to 250°F.