The Whole Fish Experiment

I will confess, this dinner absolutely terrified me and I have no one to blame but myself, because I am the one who posted it. I had grilled cheese and soup in the wings, just in case it was a culinary failure.

It started off great. I got a fantastic deal on the fish at B.J.’s warehouse. I got them for $4.49/pound when the grocery store had them on sale for $6.99/pound.

The stuffing came together beautifully and smelled delicious.

Then, I got ready to stuff them. And I got scared. They didn’t “open flat like a book” which flustered me. Then I tried to cut the tails off and they didn’t want to go and that made me more flustered. And they have bones. And I forgot the lemon juice. I eventually got them stuffed and into the oven.

Poke, poke. Is it done yet?

They actually came out pretty good, but I won’t be doing whole fish again for a very long time.

Trout sandwich

My local grocer didn't have whole trout this week. So I bought two fillets and figured I'd make a trout sandwich.

I used whole wheat bread, which I had on hand. I was too lazy to get out the Cuisinart food processor so I just ripped it up into little pieces and made croutons.

I may have snacked on a few.

I also didn't want to buy a whole pack of bacon as we rarely eat it, so I went to the deli counter and picked up a little bit of pancetta. I chopped up the pancetta and sauteed it with the onions, mushrooms and green onions together. I just couldn't resist the temptation of cooking it all in pancetta fat. Mmmm.

I've learned that it's best to add green onions at the end, to keep them nice and green and crisp.

Then I proceeded to assembling my trout sandwich. In addition to lemon juice, salt & pepper, I brushed on a wee little bit of maple syrup, because maple syrup always goes nicely with bacon. I thought the sweetness would balance the savouriness of the stuffing.

All wrapped up with my cool reusable silicone roasting ties.

I sliced it up and we had it with roast potatoes and steamed bok choy. Delicious.

I really liked the recipe. The temperature and timing turned out to be absolutely perfect - the fish was cooked until it just turned opaque. I found there was a bit too much contrast between the mild trout and savoury stuffing, but I probably just didn't salt the fish enough. My husband wished that the trout skin would have turned out crispier, but I thought it was fine. I'd make this again, or at least use the stuffing again.

Week Four - Mushroom and Bacon-Stuffed Trout

If you have looked at my other blog, you may have noticed that I have a list running down the right hand side. This is my 101 things in 1001 days challenge and my time runs out on September 28th. So I thought I would use this post to kill two birds with one stone, and be able to check off "cook a whole fish."

I like fish. I like it a lot and I like all kinds of fish, but trout is one of my most favorite. You don't see it on restaurant menus very often here and I always order it when I do. I thought I would take a stab at making this recipe from Cooking Light.

Mushroom and Bacon-Stuffed Trout

• 2 (1-ounce) slices white bread
• Cooking spray
• 3/4 cup chopped green onions (about 2 bunches)
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped cremini mushrooms (about 4 ounces)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 4 center-cut bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
• 8 (8-ounce) dressed whole rainbow trout
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Lemon wedges and fresh thyme sprigs (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place bread in a food processor; pulse 2 times or until crumbly. Sprinkle crumbs on a baking sheet; bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until golden.

Increase oven temperature to 400°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add green onions and onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Add mushrooms to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until mushrooms soften and most of liquid evaporates. Add chopped thyme; cook 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Combine mushroom mixture, breadcrumbs, and bacon in a bowl.

Open trout flat as you would a book. Drizzle trout evenly with juice; sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper. Spoon about 1/4 cup mushroom mixture onto bottom half of each fish; fold over to cover with top half of fish. Arrange fish on a foil-lined broiler pan. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork or until desired degree or doneness. Garnish with lemon wedges and thyme sprigs, if desired. Serve immediately.