Recipe For Health
by Corporate Chef Kurt Kwaitkowski
Featured Food: Rainbow Trout Yield: Serves 2-4Learn more about Rainbow Trout

Ingredients

  • 4 fresh trout fillets, skin on
  • ¼ c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 t. salt
  • ½ t. pepper
  • 1 t. Old Bay® Seasoning
  • 3 T. vegetable oil
  • ½ c. slivered almonds
  • 3 T. amaretto liqueur
  • 2 T. butter
  • 2 T. chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Pat trout fillets dry with paper towel. Whisk together flour, salt, pepper, and Old Bay® Seasoning in a bowl. Dredge fish fillets in seasoned flour then shake off excess to leave a light dusting.

Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. When oil is hot place the fillets flesh side down into the pan and cook until lightly brown, about 2-3 minutes. Turn fish and cook an additional 2 minutes or until internal temperature reaches about 135°F. Take pan off the heat and carefully remove fish to a serving platter. 

Put the almonds into the pan and begin to heat pan back up. When almonds are lightly brown, deglaze the pan with amaretto and let alcohol cook off, about a minute. Remove from heat and whisk butter and parsley into pan to finish the sauce. 

Pour sauce over fish and serve. 

Learn More About Rainbow Trout

Just ask any Great Lakes angler who has hooked one. Trout are fun to catch and make a tasty meal.

The colorful fish called rainbow trout inhabit rivers, streams, and small lakes. As they grow, their rainbow markings become more silvery. By the time they are fully-grown adults and have migrated out to sea or to one of the Great Lakes, their colorful markings are gone and they are called steelheads. Like their salmon cousins, steelheads return to the river or stream of their birth to spawn.   

The small rainbow trout available in the supermarket are freshwater fish, often farm-raised. The freshest trout are shiny and clean smelling, not fishy or strong. Whole fish should have clear, bright eyes. Make the seafood counter your last stop before home; if your trip is more than a few minutes, ask to have your fish packed on ice. Store fish in the coldest part of the refrigerator and cook within 2 days.  

Trout skin is covered by scales so small, there’s no need to remove them. Besides, scaling also removes the natural coating that makes flour stick without using milk or egg. 

Trout are not a fatty fish making them less forgiving of overcooking than salmon. Remember: HOT and QUICK for any cooking method. Baking, broiling, and pan-frying are great ways to prepare this sweet, mild-flavored fish. 

Whole trout are great for grilling. Preheat the grill (do not cover grates with aluminum foil). Using an oil-saturated paper towel and long-handled tongs, oil the grate well. Place the fish directly on the oiled grate. Cook until the skin is well-browned and begins to blister, 3 to 4 minutes. Use 2 spatulas to carefully turn the fish over. Sticking is a sign that it’s not ready to turn. Cook on the second side until the internal temperature (thermometer probe placed in the fleshy part) reaches 135° F, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove and rest for 5 minutes. 

Peggy Crum MA, RD

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