Red Trout with Grapes and Almonds

Whenever I want a quick, healthy and impressive main dish, I usually choose a nice fresh filleted fish. A few minutes of prepping, a few minutes of cooking, and you’re ready to serve.

I found this beautiful red trout at the store and got curios, as most of the trout I know have white flesh. I’ve found out that both types are related to salmon, and that the red trout gets its red flesh (or actually, pinkish-orange, similar to that of salmon) by eating shrimps or crayfish. Yet, unlike the large salmon, the smaller red trout needs a very short cooking time. It also has more subtle flavor and it is less oily, which means it needs bold flavors and butter/oil base sauce, in order to bring out the best flavor and texture.
As I had some nice green grapes, I’ve decided to cook the fish with them. The addition of grapes to fish dishes is a French classic (“Poisson Veronique”), often made with sole fillets. However, the classic recipe uses flour and milk (or cream), and the result is fairly thick and heavy, which I find diminishes the wonderful fresh flavor of the grapes. So I’ve decided to omit both and create the lighter and quicker variation that you can find here.

I was quite happy with the results and I’m sure you will too, once you’ll try it.

Makes: 2
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1 (about ½ lb, 225 grams) Red Trout
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs small diced shallot
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbs fresh lime juice
½ tsp finely grated lime zest
1/3 cup sliced seedless green grapes
¼ cup roasted slivered almonds

1. Place the trout on a cutting board and remove the head and fins with a heavy, sharp knife. Cut off the center, so that you’ll have two fillets.

2. In a large frying pan, heat the butter with the olive oil. Add the diced shallot and salt. Mix and fry over medium-high heat for a minute, until the shallot softens. Add the fish fillets, skin side up, and fry for about 3 minutes. Gently turn the fish with a spatula. Add the lime juice, black pepper, half of the lime zest and sliced grapes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 2-3 minutes longer, until the fish is done and the sauce and grapes heated through. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

3. With a spatula, gather the grapes and place over the fish. Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle the roasted almonds and the additional lime zest on top and serve.