Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Crispy Trout Meuniere

On Fridays during Lent, we do not eat meat. On Fridays in my house it's nothing but craziness because the homegirlz and their friends are coming and going and I can't quite figure how much food we'll need for dinner.
We got cheese pizza for the kiddos and I made this for us. I like trout because it is a fairly thin and light fish, but holds up well during frying or broiling. Trout has a sweet taste and not the fishy taste we try to avoid.
It used to be we only were able to enjoy a good meuniere sauce when we went out to eat. I saw Emeril Lagasse prepare this sauce about four years ago on Emeril Live, tired it at home and fell in love with it. Don't let all of the butter in the sauce discourage you, the sauce is rich but not rich and greasy. It has such a velvety texture, you're going to love it too!
Let's make the meuniere sauce first.
In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup Worcestershire,
1 lemon peeled and quartered,
and 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until reduced by half and slightly thickened. Stir occasionally and mash the lemons against the side of the pan with the back of a spoon to break up into pieces.
Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream and cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
Lower the heat to simmer and whisk in 2 sticks of cold butter, cut into small pieces. Add the butter several pieces at a time, adding each piece before the previous one has been completely incorporated. Continue until all the butter is incorporated and the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Remove the pan from the heat as necessary to keep the sauce from breaking.

Remove the pan from the heat strain sauce. As you are straining the sauce, press down with the whisk, through a fine mesh strainer, into a clean container. Cover to keep warm until ready to serve.
Place clean fillets on a sheet of wax paper and season with Emeril's Essence (Essence recipe follows this post) or with salt and pepper.

In a shallow dish, combine 1/2 cup of flour with 1 teaspoon of the Essence. In another dish, combine 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of milk to make an egg wash.

Dip fillets into the egg wash, shaking to remove any excess then dredge through the flour mixtures making sure the seasoned flour is adhering to both sides.

In a large skillet, heat 1/2 cup of Canola or vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the fish and cook until golden, about 5 minutes.
Turn and cook on the second side until golden and the fish is just cooked through, about 4 minutes.
Drain the fish on a platter lined with absorbent paper towels. Gorgeous!

To serve, spoon the sauce over the fish, serve with crispy roasted potatoes. I like to let my potatoes take a little dip in that meuniere sauce.
I did garnish with parsley and some chopped pecans, but I was so excited and hungry, I didn't snap any pictures. When you make this, you will forgive me and completely understand

Essence:
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
Yield: about 2/3 cup









28 comments:

Donna-FFW said...

This sauce sounds fantaastic. I have never had trout this way. I don'tlike the fishy fish either.. I'll have to try this next time I can get to the seafood market.

Unknown said...

You've definately got my mouth watering this morning!
Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love meuniere sauce! I make this preparation with sole, and it sounds excellent for the trout!

Sara said...

I really like the sound of this trout! I don't buy trout that often, I'm not sure why not - we're more of a snapper family :)

tamilyn said...

I'm trying to eat more fish as I know it is good for me-the fishy taste always gets in the way. I don't think I have tried trout, which is odd as we have it in our lakes here, but never see it at the market. Do you think halibut would work?

Marjie said...

I get the lack of pictures; it happens in my house, too. Nice sauce and fish!

Maria said...

The sauce is making my mouth water!! Nice one!

Peter M said...

Trout is one of favourite fish and you "cajun'ed" up real nice here!

April said...

I could try this. My hubby cooks trouth when he fishes for it and he leaves the skin and bones in it. I cannot try it that way. But this, I could!

Jennifer said...

Ohhh my gosh that looks soo good, and I am not a fan of the swimmers! That is really neat that you do the Lent thing. I am very curious about all religions and their celebrations!

gigi said...

I love fish, if someone would fix it I could eat it every night. I'm not much of a red meat eater.

I was wondering, do you think it would make much of a difference if I used smoked paprika in the Essence??

Greg C said...

That sounds pretty good but I prefer my trout fried southern style. :)

Cathy said...

I really want to start cooking more fish, and this looks totally delicious! I also gravitate towards non-fishy fish, so I am glad to know that trout works well in that regard. This looks fabulous!

Jennifer said...

What a wonderful alternative to regular fish and chips during lent.

Tiffany said...

That sauce looks divine! Very velvelty looking.

La Bella Cooks said...

The sauce would definitely put this over the top. It looks delicious!

Debbie said...

This looks wonderful. My husband loves trout and the sauce just does it for me!

Susie said...

That looks so good! I am always looking for good fish recipes. Thanks for this one:-)

Pam said...

My husband loves trout - this looks delicious, especially the sauce.

Dewi said...

It so funny, I was just hang out with my best friend (she's French) and talk about how I really want to start making French sauces. Her respond was, it's difficult to do it right (she's a purist, so I can understand why). I still want to make it, wether it is difficult or not. I have so many French cookbook, so I can refer to that as well. Now, I am impress with your sauce, it sounds really delicious serve with trout. Although, I might replace the trout with salmon, or nobody but me will eat it. Well done Katherine!
Cheers,
Elra

Reeni said...

That looks so delicious, Katherine! A beautiful golden brown and topped with that sauce, it makes my mouth water. I don't know if I've ever had trout, but your description of it means that it is a definite must in my future.

Not Another Omnivore said...

Looks great!

NAOmni

The Blonde Duck said...

That sounds so good! I'll have to try this for Ben. He's wanting to eat more fish for his cholestoral.

pam said...

Well, of course it's good...2 sticks of butter and heavy cream! Well worth the extra cardio I'll have to do!

Anonymous said...

*drools a little*
sounds awesome!

NKP said...

Bring on the butter, lady! Love the meuniere sauce, mmmmm....

Selba said...

The sauce sounds wonderful!!!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

I've never prepared meuniere sauce this way and it sounds fantastic. I've been using an old, old recipe from Craig Claiborne in his first cookbook but yours sounds more up to date so I'll have to give it try. Great photos. We've got plenty of mountain trout here in the mountains.
Sam