Roasted Trout with Lemon & Walnut-Browned Butter

Steelhead has been frequenting the Whole Foods fish counter lately. It looks exactly like salmon. I asked the fish guy about it: "Steelhead is trout, right?" He gave me this vague answer that in 48 of the 50 states it is considered a salmon and that it tastes like salmon. "But it's trout, isn't it" He couldn't give me a definitive answer. Since I like both salmon and trout, I decided to give it a try, whatever it was. When I got home, a quick google told me a little more. Steelhead Trout is closely related to a Rainbow Trout. The difference is that Steelhead is born in a stream but makes its way to the ocean for its adult life (there's a fancy term for this fishy behavior: anadromous) whereas Rainbow Trout stays in the fresh water stream. Steelhead, Rainbow, Salmon and Char (as in Arctic Char) and all part of the Salmonidea family and closely related in texture, flavor and nutritional qualities. These aren't those little, whole lake trout (or as Jack calls them the gray ones with the heads) that you often see in the fish counter. This is a big, meaty pink-fleshed fillet and it would substitute nicely in any salmon recipe. In terms of flavor, you might describe it as salmon-light. Some people (not me) object to the oily, strong flavor of salmon compared to other fish. Rainbow and Steelhead Trout are a little less like that, but yet retain some salmon-like flavor. They're delicious.

That said, I decided to work with a Rainbow Trout recipe from the Fine Cooking database, one from issue 78. The fish gets a very simple treatment roasted in the oven with some herbs and lemon slices. As it cooks, you prepare a brown butter sauce with walnuts to drizzle over the cooked fish. This is a classy recipe and you get to practice your butter browning skills, which is always good. Don't walk away from your butter.

Roasted Trout with Lemon & Walnut-Browned Butter

by Molly Stevens (Fine Cooking 78)

This recipe serves 4-6. You can easily scale it down for 2. To lighten it up a little, you can brush the uncooked fish with olive oil (instead of butter) and then just finish with the butter sauce.

8 rainbow trout fillets (2 to 2-1/2 lb.)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh tarragon

24 1/8-inch-thick lemon slices (2 to 3 lemons)

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 450ºF.

Arrange the trout skin side down on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper evenly over the trout. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and drizzle 4 Tbs. of it evenly over the fillets. Sprinkle the trout evenly with the parsley and the tarragon. Arrange 3 lemon slices over each fillet. Roast until the fillets flake easily when pricked with a fork, 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, set the saucepan with the remaining melted butter over medium heat. Cook until lightly browned and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat and stir in the walnuts; keep warm.

When the trout is done, use a large spatula to transfer the fillets to dinner plates—if the skin sticks to the foil, lift up only the flesh. Swirl the walnut butter around and then spoon it over the trout.

serving suggestions: Serve with buttered baby red potatoes tossed with chopped fresh dill.

I served mine with roasted brussels sprouts. The walnut butter sauce drizzled over them as well. Yum.