What do you do when your neighbor gives you a 4-lb whole trout he just caught in Big Bear? Accept the challenge and have an amazing dinner!I've never cooked a whole fish before. The funny thing is I've been considering giving it a go, but I had yet been brave enough to actually buy one from my local fish monger.
Enter: my neighbor. This weekend I gave him a few sprigs of basil from an enormous bunch I'd bought at the farmers market, and I guess he thought a fish would be a good way to repay me. Thank you, neighbor!
(It appears that simplicity has been a theme of the food portion of this blog so far and it continues with tonight's meal.)
This little monster came together lickity-split! He was given to me already scaled and gutted (thanks again, neighbor!). So, I just stuffed him with a sliced up lemon, an orange, and a bunch of parsley. Then I rubbed his skin with olive oil and sprinkled on a generous amount of salt and pepper. He went in a preheated 450 degree oven for about 30 minutes.
After he was set to cook, I trimmed the asparagus and placed it on a baking sheet. To season it, I like a healthy squeeze of lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Then that went in the oven with 15 minutes to go on the fish.
The result: a delicious, fresh, and healthy meal. This one was interesting for me, too, because I usually don't like really fishy fish; trout, like cod, can be quite fishy. But the freshness of the little guy won me over as soon as I tasted it. My belly is happy.
wow! maybe I need to move into one of your vacant apts to share in this neighborly goodness. :) btw, I love how you photographed this fish starin' right at ya. some would be frightened. I think it's awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ang, although I have to give photo credit where it's due; Ryan takes most of my food pics. He's just got a pretty good eye for these things.
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