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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Shoot, gotta run....Cornmeal and Pistachio Crusted Trout


So, this is going to be a quick one. Life is going great, writing more and more, on my 4th draft, blah blah blah. Anyways, what I really want to talk about is, how every now and then, you just need a piece of fish. And not just any ol' fish, but the RIGHT fish. For me, that's quite often trout. I don't know why, but I'm crazy about these guys. Maybe it has to do with my first fish memory being my dad frying up a rainbow trout when I was eight for just the two of us. And then my mom yelling at us for making the whole house smell like fried fish. Sweet, right? 


Anyway, this is a classed up version of my dad's recipe. First of all, there is no frying. This puppy is baked in an oven for just about ten minutes, will all sorts of goodies packed on top to form an amazingly delicious crust. I used to be afraid to buy whole fish, because I thought the steps it would take to prep and cook such a thing would NEVER make this a weekday meal. Well, thank goodness fishmongers these days are kind enough people to take care of all the prep work for us. This I made on a Thursday, and took all of a half hour to put together. Thank goodness, because I've got WAY too many pages to proofread. I'll be back soon with more goodies, let me just finish this scene...

I paired this with my ever-present spiced roasted cauliflower and some arugula. 
NOTE: I should warn you, this is probably enough topping for two Trouts. If you're just cooking for one (like I was) you can probably scale back a good amount of the crust ingredients.


Cornmeal and Pistachio Crusted Trout 

2 tbsp cornmeal
2 tbsp flour
2.5 tbsp pistachio nuts, chopped very fine
2 tsp fresh thyme
2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
2 tsp salt
2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 trout, butterflied (approx. 1 lb)
1-2 tbsp butter, melted
half a lemon
2 tbsp parsley leaves

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix the first 7 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Pat the trout dry and rub 1-2 tsp of butter on the skin side of fish. Lay on cookie sheet. On the flesh side, rub another 1-2 tsp of butter. Sprinkle cornmeal mixture onto trout and press firmly to completely coat and cover both filets. Brush off excess.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until flesh is firm. Sprinkle on parsley leaves and a few squeezes of lemon juice. Serve with salad or roasted veggies.  

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