Trout, Coriander, Roasted Pumpkin, and Sage

We picked out a pumpkin this past week. Apparently I was supposed to wait until after Halloween to eat it. Yoopsie. If you intend to eat pumpkin, buy one that is small to medium-sized. The larger ones are less flavorful. You won't need a whole pumpkin for this recipe unless you're serving ten people, so use a small one or cut a portion of a larger one and save the rest for a soup or pie. To compliment the roasted pumpkin I added chopped sage (it goes well with most types of squash). I seasoned the trout with coriander seeds from the garden.

This is a simple and delicious fall dish. Enjoy!

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 trout fillets (about 275g each), cut in half • 1 small pumpkin, cut in wedges • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, roughly ground • 1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped • 3 tablespoons butter • juice from half a lemon • salt + ground black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 425°F. Lay the pumpkin on a baking sheet or parchment paper. Drizzle with oil. Roast in the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked thoroughly. Just as it gets out of the oven, add the sage and season with salt.

Lower the oven temp to 350°F. Put the trout on aluminium foil. Sprinkle with the coriander seeds, salt, black pepper, and lemon juice. Top each piece with 1 teaspoon of butter and gently enclose the trout in the foil. Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes. Serve with a few slices of roasted pumpkin.

Baked Trout with Chervil and Creamy Mustard Sauce

Another herb growing back from last year's garden is chervil. I use Chervil to give a dose of light liquorice flavor to poultry and fish. For this recipe, I paired it with trout and added another one of my favorite ingredients, mustard. I kept it simple. The sauce takes only a few minutes to throw together and the fish takes ten minutes to cook. A short note on overcooking salmon or trout: don't. Fish are much better on the medium-rare side. When overcooked they tend to dry out and lose a lot of flavor. The same rule applies to meats also. Less juice, less taste. I had steelhead trout, but rainbow or speckled will do just fine. For a side, I sautéed mustard greens to give the mustard back its leaves.

This recipe will serve 2-4 depending on how much trout you want to eat.

Ingredients

• 300-600g trout fillet(s) • 1/3 cup heavy cream • 1 shallot, finely chopped • 1 tablespoon butter • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard • 1 tablespoon maple syrup • 1 tablespoon chervil, chopped • juice of half a lemon • salt + ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place your trout on a oiled baking pan and season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the lemon juice on top of the fish. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes. While the trout is in the oven, make the sauce. In a small pan melt the butter and sweat the shallot for 2 minutes. Whisk in the mustard and maple syrup. Then add the cream and the chervil, simmer for 2-3 minutes and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve and garnish with chopped chervil.

Haddock Amandine

Sole Amandine is a very old French classic, but, as we can all appreciate, the recipe is a simple one. Essentially, the dish is pan-seared filet of fish with a sauce of browned butter, almonds, and lemon. What I love about the recipe is that it works amazingly well with any type of fish; trout, haddock, tilapia - you name it. I had haddock in the fridge, so I went with that. But, you can also get creative - give your next batch of asparagus an amandine kick. The earthy sweetness of browned butter, the crunch of almonds, and the crisp, zesty taste of lemon go so well together, but the effect is still gentle enough to compliment a variety of core flavors. Try it out and enjoy!

This was originally a guest post for 2 Peas & A Pot. Serves 2 One filet is usually enough for two people. Adjust depending on the size of your fish.

Ingredients

• 1 haddock filet, cut in half • 1/4 cup white flour • 1/4 cup sliced almonds • 4 tablespoons butter • juice of 1/2 lemon • 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped • salt + black pepper

First off, season the fish with salt and pepper. Put the flour on a plate and gently flour the filet.

In a sauté pan, on medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Once it's bubbling, add the fish to the pan. Cook on each side for 2-3 minutes. Transfer in another pan or on a plate.

In the same pan you've seared the fish, add the remaining butter and cook it until it browns. This does not take long; so be careful not to burn the butter. Add the almonds, remove from heat and squeeze in the lemon to stop the butter from cooking. If you used unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt.

Serve the haddock with the amandine sauce and garnish with parsley.

Pan-Fried North River Smelts

I was lucky at the market today. I got my hands on some fresh, ice-fished smelts. The best way to enjoy them is simple; floured, pan-fried, salted and then dipped into a sauce. For the dip, you can pretty much use anything but I went with horseradish, because the zest of it works amazingly well with the fish. If horseradish isn't your thing, try it anyway - it's an acquired taste!

These make for a great appetizer but also a great lunch. Eat the small ones whole. For the larger ones, once they're cooked, you can easily peel away the spine, leaving you with only the filets.

Pan-Fried Smelts

• 12 smelts • 1/2 cup white flour • 1/2 teaspoon salt • a pinch of cayenne pepper • oil for frying

If the smelts are whole, cut off the heads, gut them, and clean them under cold water.

Mix the flour with the salt and cayenne. Heat about 1/4 cup of sunflower, canola or grapeseed oil in a saucepan or chef's pan.

Flour the fish and put them in the pan, about six at a time. Once they're brown and crispy on one side, flip them. It takes about 2 minutes on each side. Proceed for as many fish as you have. Add a pinch of salt and serve right away, hot!

Horseradish Dip

• 1/2 cup sour cream • 1 tablespoon horseradish • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Mix, done!