My mom and the Coyote went camping a few weeks ago in Southeastern Missouri. Now fishing is not really my thing so I opted to go to a dog spa with Callie and Sophie instead. However, when they returned they provided me with some notes they made on a delicious meal they prepared one night. So with their permission, here it is!
"Broiled rainbow trout - campfire style"
There is probably nothing better than eating the fish you actually caught! Each time we went to the river we caught at least one fish so two days of fishing yielded four decent sized rainbow trout. Once they were cleaned, we decided to try our hand at actually cooking them over the campfire. The Coyote got a blazing fire going which yielded some great logs to use for a basic broiling technique. Our fish were cleaned but not fileted, so my thought was to flavor the fish from the inside out. Once I had greased the aluminum foil with butter, I placed a fish in the center. Inside i sprinkled on salt, pepper, onion powder, just a hint of garlic powder and laid down some thin lime slices. Then I folded the aluminum foil around the fish to ensure that it would cook but not burn. Chris, aka the Coyote, pulled out some medium sized logs that were white but still on fire. I laid the fish packets on the logs and after 5 minutes pulled them off and checked them. They were returned to the flames for another 3 minutes.
What awaited us for dinner that night was a truly wonderful meal that could not be duplicated in an ordinary kitchen. The intense heat stuck the skin to the foil, so when we un-wrapped them the skin peeled away leaving only the tender flaky meat behind. The spices and lime did not overpower the delicate flavor of the trout, but complimented it nicely. The campfire also lended another fantastic flavor element to the fish: smoke. Since the foil was heavy-duty, the meat of the fish only picked up a hint of it - this was no "ash tray" fish for sure! The meat was tender and the juice from the lime slices helped to keep it succulently moist.
We paired the fish with what we had left a lovely Sauvignon Blanc from Lucky Duck. That was an amazing combination: the zestiness of the wine picked up the lime and pepper on the fish. When the Sauv Blanc was gone we moved onto Lucky Duck's Chardonnay. Also a winner! The unoaked Chard was minerally and really brought out the fresh water flavor components in the fish.
It was a successful meal on many levels - one, we caught enough fish to eat and two, we cooked them almost to perfection!
~My thank to my mom and the Coyote for contributing to my blog.
Next post: a dog's take on grilled asparagus with zagablioni sauce!
Sammy, a nine year old border collie mix shares his views and musings on human cooking with a dog's eye view. He also shares his thoughts as he and his human attempt to become a canine therapy team.
