Wow! Were they ever good. Last weekend, I did some grilled rainbow trout in a mustard sauce, and it was as good as it gets.
I wanted a seafood dish for company, but not crab cakes and not salmon. In the past, I had cooked rainbow trout on the grill with good results, so I decided to go with that if I could find some fresh trout. I went to Whole Foods, my first stop for good seafood, and they had some huge, butterflied trout. By huge, I mean that a single trout dressed out at over a pound, which means they were likely 3 pounds or so before they were dressed. I bought two to serve 4 of us and it was plenty.
But the beauty of the large trout is that they are thick enough to be juicy and not become dried out on the grill. Smaller butterflied trout would work, but if you can ever find the larger ones, buy those.
My recipe came from my old friend, Nelson Moore. Back in my old fish-for-trout and keep them days, I told Nelson I had caught some fish and he said bring them over, he had a good recipe. Nelson mixed butter, lemon and mustard and brushed it on the trout as they were on the grill. They were good then and they still are.
Here’s how I did it.
For the sauce, melt ½ stick of butter and mix with ¼ C mustard and ¼ C lemon juice.
Spray lots of Pam on the grill. If you have a wire basket to cook and flip the fish in, perfect. If not, you have to handle the fish carefully or they’ll fall apart on the grill.
Start the fish off skin side down after spraying with Pam and brushing generously with the sauce. Cook just a few minutes over low heat until the flesh begins to firm up, then put a generous coat of sauce on the flesh side and carefully flip them. Cook a few more minutes, until the fish flakes easily and they’re done – about 15 minutes in overall cooking time.
Next time you think seafood, think grilled rainbow trout.
Grilled Rainbow Trout
2 large, butterflied trout (1 Pound each, then separate the halves)
½ stick butter
¼ C lemon juice
¼ C mustard