Rainbow Trout

[Elen Sentier]

At Glen Coe, just a week ago, Magpiewolf and I had rainbow trout for tea. I was wondering who else does them this way ...

First remove spine and innards: put your knife in along the spine and make a slit along it from head to tail. cut around the gill on both sides and the tail. Lift the flesh carefully on one side and fold back, exposint the spine. Slip the knife unde the spine and life gently - spine plus head and tail should come away in your hands bringing the innards with them. Fill the trout with some butter a little garlic (not too much or you lose the taste of the fish), someherbs are good if they're about especially lemony tasting ones. wrap each fish in foil, or big leaves if they're about too, and bake for 15-20 mins in the embers of a fire. Ours were delicious You could ponass the fish too but a wrap-bake makes them very juicy.

I was taught that method of opening a fish by a posh London chef yonks ago and it works a treat, very few bones! Good for any fish that swims upright, not tried on flatfish ... would it work ???

 

[Dave]

I normally take them home to cook, after Ive caught them. I clean them by the river, and just put them into the microwave in a covered dish, with a bit of lemon juice, and butter, and black pepper. The flesh just flakes off the bone, and I eat with my fingers, and bread.

 

[John Fenna]

The last time I did fish in the outdoors I made a "greenstick grill"...
Make a hoop of supple wood - I used a peeled willow wand lashed with fresh bark twine, with a peeled willow wand handle set across the hoop and held with a couple of peeled twigs "woven" across it at 90degrees.
The fish were placed across this and held by a couple more "woven" twigs.
A couple of minutes each side over an oak chip fire and the fish tasted grand - and I am not a fish lover!
No pictures I am sorry to say (all on slides - it was a while ago...) but such a grill looks a bit like a primitive tennis raquet or snowshoe and will last for a fair number of fish before becoming firewood.

 

[Jaymzflood]

I've been gutting trout since I was about 7 and consider myself somewhat a master at it now.

My steps:

1. head off
2. Cut from anus to head (open it all the way)
3. Remove all guts
4. Slit bloodline from start to end and slide a teaspoon down it to remove it all.
5. Blast with cold water, especially he blood line to remove all blood bits you can't reach.

by now you should have a nice clean fish ready to cook ...but with bones. If you don't want bones, read on.

6. Slit the anus down towards the tail as far as you can go. You want the fish to be flat on the table, skin down.
7. Hold the top of the spine where the head was and slit all the way down either side of the spine, until its sticking up in the air as the fish lay flat on the table.
8. Turn the fish around so the head end (or what was the head) is closest to you, get a pair of pliers, grab the spine at the head end and rip it out (down) moving your arm away from you.

You take a fair whack of bones out with this part, but not all of them. If your fussy, lay the fish flat, and glide a sharp knife over the fishes body, this will pick out any bones remaining. It's hard to explain this part as its a little tricky, but there will be some videos of YouTube on this.

Good Luck

 

[Elen Sentier]

That's gone in my recipe book, ta John

 

[GordonM]

I enjoy cooking trout in a foil pack on the fire.

A few small trout.

On the foil after cleaning.

Add the melted butter, lemon juice and a few herbs before wrapping up in the foil.

Bake on the fire.

 

[Joonsy]

with trout i like to just gut fish then wrap them in soaking wet newspaper and bake (paper will burn on outside but not the inside if soaked thoroughly) the belly cavity can be filled with a filling of choice if one wishes, when done and paper is peeled away the skin often sticks to paper and is peeled off when unwrapping and a little shake of the fish removes spine and all bones in one go leaving two lovely skinned and boneless fillets. With mackerel after gutting you can just push down hard along the spine of the fish with the palm of your hand and then the spine and most of the bones will pulll out together all in one, a very quick and easy method.

 

[Bumbler]

Here is how I do it:
Mix a plastic bag of wheat flour pepper and salt. Clean the guts out then dump it in the bag of flour, close the bag and shake it to get a an even layer of flour over the whole fish. Fry fish whole in plenty of butter over the fire (or at home).

Take fish out, and put on a plate. Dump a box (250 grams) of sour cream in the still hot frying pan, and bring to boil. And you have your sauce.
Eat with baked potatoes and the sause. You'll be in heaven.