Monday, March 5, 2007

Trout fried in almonds

Do you sometimes get fascinated with a dish and make it constantly, only to forget all about it in a year? It happens to me a lot. With all the new dishes to discover, I find it hard not to let old favorites slip into a temporary oblivion. That's why I love it when Jason cooks dinner for me. He manages to make every old dish new again by digging up recipes I haven't made in years and making them taste even better than my memories. This Valentine's Day, he made me trout fried in almonds and as Julia Child would say, it was "perfectly delicious." In fact it was so good, that he inspired me to make it twice since Valentine's Day -- once for us and once for a One Fish, Two Fish class.

Serves 4

Fish substitutions: arctic char, tilapia, baramundi

4 white trout fillets with skin
1 cup sliced almonds
2 eggs
4 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbsp herb butter, melted (optional)
  1. Preheat oven to 250F.
  2. Chop sliced almonds in a food processor into small pieces. Pour into a plate.
  3. Beat eggs together until well blended in a pyrex dish large enough to hold a trout fillet.
  4. Season trout fillets with salt and pepper on both sides.
  5. Put 2 Tbsp oil in a frying pan and set on medium high heat.
  6. When the pan is hot, quickly dip both sides of 2 fillets into eggs, then into almonds, and place in the skillet skin side down. Cook until nuts are browned, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until nuts are browned on the flesh side, about 2 minutes. There is no need to test for doneness. If the nuts are browned, the trout is cooked (since it's so thin). If substituting thicker fish, you might have to finish cooking in 400F oven, so that nuts don't burn and test for doneness the usual way.
  7. Remove to an oven proof dish and keep warm in the oven while frying the second 2 fillets. If nuts burnt, remove them from the pan before cooking the second batch. Pour more oil into the pan if needed and repeat with the other 2 fillets.
  8. Optionally, pour 1-2 tsp of melted herb butter over each fillet before serving.


Kalyn Denny said...

Sounds just wonderful, and the almond coating is so perfect for my way of eating. BTW,I know exactly what you mean about not being able to make something again after you've posted the recipe!

Anonymous said...

This sounds wonderful! A quick question, though. Since you specify trout fillets with skin and bother to coat the skin side with almonds, is it edible?

Warda said...

I love the coating. Your fish must have been nut to see it self desguised in this orignal outfit. I will try it soon and let you know.

Helen said...

Hi Terry,

About the skin -- that's the best part of most fish! Here is my general approach to fish skin. For dry direct cooking methods (grilling, broiling, searing, pan frying) and even for oven roasting (baking), I always keep and eat the skin of most fish. The only exceptions are huge ones (swordfish, tuna, halibut, mahi) -- their skin is too tough. Even there, there is disagreement between cooks. I once had a Caribbean student persuade me that swordfish skin is perfectly delicious. I tried it and like it, but it depends on the cut, and it's definitely not for everyone. Wet cooking methods (steaming and poaching) turn the skin mushy, so for those methods, I remove it either before or after cooking for all fish.

Fish whose skin is particularly fabulous: trout, salmon, arctic char, striped bass, red snapper, branzino, sea bream. I am sure there are others, I am just blanking out.


Cyndi said...

So simple - yet must be awesome. I'm going to try this soon!

Anonymous said...

That looks absolutely scrumptious.

Thanks for the recipe :)