Pan Fried Trout

Trout is probably the most often-caught freshwater fish in the western United States. Many of us have fond memories of going camping and fishing in the summer and eating these tasty fish. They have a fantastic flavor that does best with a simple recipe. If you do happen to buy your fish, make sure that it is fresh. Fresh fish will have bright, clear eyes, firm flesh, and will NOT smell fishy at all. If it has any smell, it will be a wet, semi-musty smell, but definitely not fishy. A fishy fish is a spoiled fish.

Simple Pan Fried Trout

Ingredients

Trout, freshly caught
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Butter
Lemon wedges or slices

Procedure

1. Clean the trout by slitting the belly lengthwise and scooping out the innards. Discard. Remove the vein that runs along the spine. If it is a larger trout, you can cut the head and tail off to fit it in your pan. Pull the head backwards until the spine snaps and then cut it off.
2. If the trout is from a clean water source you trust, you can eat the skin. If this is the case, wash off the slime and remove the scales by scraping the back of a knife against the grain of the scales. Otherwise, just wash the slime off. On smaller fish with smaller scales, you might not even care to remove the scales.
3. Set fish aside on a paper towel or brown paper bag. Do not dry.
3. Heat skillet to medium-high heat.
4. In a bowl, mix flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge whole fish in mixture.
5. Add butter to skillet and swirl around to coat bottom of skillet. Add fish. Cook until fish is browned and releases from pan. Flip.
6. Trout is done when the flesh is a milky opaque color but still deliciously juicy.
7. Serve hot with lemon wedges or slices.

Grilled Lobster Tails

My dad loves food, and he loves grilled food even more. So one year, my mom, my sister, and I decided that we'd grill lobster tails for my dad on Father's Day. That was by far the most memorable Father's Day meal that we've ever done! Make sure that you leave the lobster tails alone and let them be until they release themselves from the grill before turning so you don't under cook them and make a mess.

Grilled Lobster Tails

Ingredients

4 7-ounce lobster tails
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons chives, chopped
1 tablespoon tarragon leaves, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Dash hot sauce, your choice
Olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt
Lemon wedges
Chive sprigs, for garnish

Procedure

1. Preheat your grill to direct medium-high heat.
2. In a small bowl blend butter, chives, tarragon, minced garlic, hot sauce, and black pepper. Blend thoroughly. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
3. Using kitchen shears, butterfly the lobster tails straight down the middle of the softer underside of the shell. Cut the meat down the center without cutting all the way through. Brush the tails with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
4. Grill lobsters cut side down over medium high heat about 5 minutes, until the shells are bright in color and lobster releases from the grill.
5. Turn the tails over and spoon a generous tablespoon of herb butter onto the butterflied meat. Grill for another 4 minutes, or until the lobster meat is an opaque white color.
6. Remove lobster tails from the grill and serve with more herb butter and lemon wedges. Garnish with chive sprigs.

Ideas for a meal:
Roast some red potatoes at the same time as the lobster tails, and spread herb butter on them. Serve with a walnut-apple green salad.

Mussels and Salmon in Couscous

After my sister Sarah's wedding reception was all cleaned up, my parents' old friends, Que and Mike Sala, came back to the house to chat. They were such a hoot! We talked about crabby librarians, grandkids, and great foods. We talked about mystery dinners, and they told us that they were going to one the next week. The host was serving a bunch of French foods, including escargot. That prompted my mom to say that she doesn't like shellfish, especially mussels, because they taste like the bottom of the ocean and are tough and chewy. Mike is a professional butcher and teaches a class on butchering, and he is one of the best cooks around when it comes to meats. So he said that mussels are actually quite tender if you make them right, and his wife Que agreed that this way, the recipe here, was the first way she actually liked eating mussels. I haven't tried it yet, but if it comes from Mike, the recipe is sure to be fantastic.


Mike Sala's Mussels and Salmon in Couscous Recipe

Ingredients 

1/4 cup dry couscous
1 ice cube chicken stock
4 mussels
1 salmon fillet

Procedure 

1. Place dry couscous in a little parchment packet, and place the ice cube in the center of the couscous. Place mussels in each corner, and then place the salmon on top--make sure that the salmon fillet is broad enough to cover all four mussels.

2. Fold the paper and tie. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes for the ultimate mussel dinner.