Broiled Rainbow Trout with Pine Nuts, Butter Stuffing and Sage Butter

Makes a beautiful presentation. Great for only two - or a dinner party.

 
Recipe courtesy of Gourmet Magazine

 
3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons) 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon paprika
3 scallions, finely chopped

 
Stuffing:
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs 1/4 cup pine nuts
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

 
Fish:
4 butterflied rainbow trout, whole, skin on, bones removed (ask your fish dealer to do this for you)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

 

 Vegetable oil
Well in advance of cooking the fish, prepare the Sage Butter by placing all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse to combine well. Using a rubber spatula, heap the mixture onto a sheet of waxed paper and roll to form a sausage shape. Twist the ends to enclose the butter. Set on a plate and refrigerate at least 1 hour to harden enough so that it can be sliced. When the butter is firm enough to slice, remove the paper wrapping and cut it into 1/4-inch rounds, which will be used at the final moment of cooking to season the fish. Keep refrigerated until ready to use. Meanwhile, prepare the stuffing combining the bread crumbs, pine nuts, jalapenos, garlic, chili powder and salt and pepper in a bowl. Drizzle the 2 tablespoons vegetable oil into this mixture and blend together lightly with a fork.

 
Preheat the broiler. Brush both sides of the trout with vegetable oil. Season with salt and pepper and broil skin-side up to crisp the skin, a maximum of 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the fish from the broiler. Place the fish, skin-side down, in a roasting pan that has been lightly rubbed with vegetable oil. Sprinkle the stuffing mixture over the fish. Place the fish in a 375 degree oven 6 to 7 minutes to finish cooking. When the fish have nearly finished baking, crumble several pieces of the reserved Sage Butter on each fillet so that, in the last moment of cooking, the butter will melt, seasoning the fish.

 
Yield: 4 servings