Lemon Butter Trout Fillet with Nasturtium "Capers"

It's hog season. We've been keeping the occasional 18-22" Rainbow from Vallecito during this flurry of large fish activity. We find that fish in this size group have lived in the lake long enough to eat natural food and get that rich, pink color. Freshly stocked fish taste ok, but why not let them go to grow up a few years? This is another reason I'm generally against fishing with bait, if everything that takes your live bait swallows it, you don't really have the ability to release the little guys to let them grow up. Learn to tie some jigs, it's self sufficient and a great way to spend a beery evening.

What you'll need

Trout fillets. I'm thinking either half of a large Trout or both fillets from a smaller Trout. We want to fill a frying pan and have plenty for 2 people. If you have more people, well, start multiplying. You'll need some olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, a lemon, and green onions. You can use real capers, but for this recipe I used pickled Nasturtium seed pods. I used this lovely lady's recipe. Nasturtium pods are zesty and delicious and you can grow TONS of them yourself without relying on trans continental trade to caper your dish. I prefer my Trout fillets with the pin bones either pulled or cut out, because I'm a freak about fish bones, but some people just leave them in and eat around them. In my photo, you'll see this recipe served with a garbanzo bean and tomato salad and spaghetti squash. I am leaving the sides purposely vague, you can really couple Trout like this with anything. You could even serve just the Trout on a small plate as an appetizer, that'd look pretty swanky.

You need to remove the fish from the refrigerator or cooler at least 20 minutes in advance of making this. Cold fish will cook unevenly and you'll end up burning some bits while others are barely cooked. Like all meat, fish wants to be brought to room temperature before being cooked. Salt your fillets, and pepperCut the fillet into strips about 1 inch wide. Heat oil and once it is hot, add just a little butter to it until you have a rapidly bubbling mess. You can use an oil more neutral that olive oil if you prefer, but my inner Italian just uses a mellow olive oil for just about everything. Fillets in, skin side down and listen to the sizzle. You will see the cooked parts of the fillet grow and when they've reached about halfway, flip and cook meat side down for just a minute or two. Return back to skin side to finish. This entire process should take no longer than 8 minutes. As with cooking any fish, you just have to remember one thing.. DON'T #$)*ING OVERCOOK IT! Remove the fish from the pan and then, you see all that bubbly, brown joy in the pan? Add a tablespoon of butter and the juice of 1 lemon. Add about 1tsp additional salt. Just get it all boiling nicely while you're plating the Trout. At the very last second add your capers to the pan and then immediately spoon the mixture onto your trout fillets. Top with green onions and serve!

Comments

  1. Like all of Eric's dishes, this one is delicious with some great flavor combinations. It's a great way to enjoy those beautiful beasts from Vallecito. It works out well that I do all the catchin' and Eric does all the cookin'!

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    1. This woman is delusional from a dish of local mushrooms I made for her earlier in the summer. I obviously used the wrong mushrooms. She usually stands at the banks and squeals while jumping up and down and throwing rocks into the water. I tell her she's catching fish, so let's not ruin that happy place where she is, ok?

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