Published May 1. 2011 - 12 years ago
Updated or edited Jan 16. 2016

Trout with bacon

This is not your ordinary fly fishing article, but anyways... we have brought you recipes before, but this one is more in the GFF style with lots of step-by-step pictures. From fishing location to your table.

Carrots, celery and beans - Base for the filling
The fish - I didn't catch it myself. My good friend Henning did, and gave it to me.
Butter, parsley and lemon - For the lemon butter
The start
Martin Joergensen

This course requires

a whole fish. The ideal size is around 2-4 lbs. or 1-2 kilos. That's about a 20-25 inch or 50-65 centimeters fish. A 2 lbs. fish will serve three people, maybe four if they aren't too hungry, but just barely. A 2 kilos fish will easily serve four hungry grownups, and take nicely care of six people.
The fish needs to be cleaned and freed from blood and scales. You remove the gills, but can leave the head on, which makes for a very nice presentation when the fish is served. You can also cut off the whole head and tail to make a more compact package. Your choice.

Apart from the fish

you will need:

  • Lean, diced bacon, a couple of hundred grams per kilo fish or 3-4 ounces per lb. I usually buy a whole piece and cut it myself.
  • Carrots, a couple per kilo fish depending on size of the carrots.
  • Celery, a stalk or two per kilo fish.
  • Other firm vegetables according to taste. I often use parsley root or celery root, even string beans, but I rarely use onions. I have been known to add some chopped, dried tomatoes in oil.
  • A lemon for zest and slices.
  • Rice, to serve the number of persons at the table.
  • Salted butter, 250 grams or 9-10 ounces.
  • Parsley, a nice bunch.
  • Salt and pepper.

You will also need some tin foil to make a package for the fish.

Chopped - In equal sizes
Lemon butter done - Ready for the fridge
Bacon dices - I prefer to cut my own
Potatoes - I had some left over from the day before. They also went into the filling
Going on
Martin Joergensen

Make some lemon/parsley butter using grated lemon zest from half a lemon and a generous amount of finely chopped parsley. Blend lemon and parsley into the soft butter and set aside in the fridge to cool before serving.

The fish needs

to be clean and dry. Remove the blood from the large blood vessel in the inside back of the fish if it hasn't been done. Cut along the spine inside the fish and scrape out the coagulated blood with a small spoon. Fish from the sea or fresh sea run fish need to have the scales scraped off if they have loose scales. Use a sharp knife and scrape against the scales under running water.
Dry the fish with a cloth or paper and place it on a large piece of tin foil.

Prepare the bacon

and vegetables.
Fry the bacon dices in a frying pan. It shouldn't go all hard and brown, but take color. Leave the fat in the pan and add a bit of oil if the bacon is really lean. Use a bit of tomato oil if you are adding dried tomatoes in oil.
While the bacon fries you cut the vegetables in the same size as the bacon and add it to the pan with a little salt and some pepper. Fry the whole thing for about five more minutes and add the rest of the grated lemon zest and chopped, dried tomatoes as the last ingredients. I had some boiled potatoes that I chopped and added as the last step for the filling. The possible variations are endless. Use what you have and what you like.

Headless and tailless - I cut off head and tail to make the fish fit in my baking plate
Bacon roasting - It need to take a little color, but not go crispy
The fish - Gutted and free of scales
Wrapped - Wrap the foil tightly around the fish, and it's ready for the oven
Potatoes added - Last ingredient in, and the mix is ready
Filled - Pour the filling into the fish, put some sliced lemon and salt on it
Filling and packing
Martin Joergensen
Resting - After having been in the oven for 45 minutes, I let the fish rest under a cloth for 10-15 minutes
On the table - Open the foil at the table and let people see the wonder revealed. Enjoy!
Done
Martin Joergensen

Pour the warm

mix into the fish. It will most likely not fit in there, so just let it spill outside on the foil.
Slice the lemon and squeeze the slices over the fish and place them on the skin along its side. Sprinkle a bit of salt over the fish and lemon slices. Bear in mind that the bacon can be quite salty, so don't overdo it. Grate some black pepper on top.
Wrap the foil tightly around the fish, pushing the filling into the fish as best possible. You may have to add more foil to make it really tight. The tighter it is, the less fish juice you will have leaking out on your baking plate.
Place the package on a baking plate and put it in the middle of an oven preheated to about 200 deg. C or about 400 deg. F. The fish will need 30-45 minutes depending on its size and let it rest for 10-15 minutes under a cloth before serving.
Cook rice according to taste and recipe to be finished at the same time as the fish.

Bring the whole

package to the table and open the foil while the guests are watching. Remove the lemons and skin the fish by cutting along the lateral line, lifting and scraping the skin away from this center line using a table knife and your fingers- Have a wet cloth nearby. The skin is usually very sticky. You can then lift the meat off the bones in suitable chunks. People who detest bones get from the tail end, people who are more tolerant get from the front. Skip the thin meat on the fishes belly if there's enough. It's the least interesting and has the most bones.
Use a spoon to scoop the bacon, vegetables and the juice over the rice and add a bit of lemon butter on top. For the other side of the fish, you simply lift the bones (the whole skeleton, actually) from the meat, and then lift the meat off the lower side skin.

Serve with lemon slices so people can add freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste. Some fresh bread and a chilled white wine won't make things worse.

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