Trout With Lentils Bacon And Walnut Vinaigrette Food

LENTILS WITH SMOKED TROUT RILLETES

Steps:

• In a medium size pot, combine lentils, water, onion, bay leaf, garlic and optional cayenne. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Add salt, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 30 to 40 minutes, until lentils are cooked through but still have some texture. They should not be mushy but they shouldn't be crunchy either. Taste and adjust salt. Add pepper. Using tongs, remove and discard onion and bay leaf.
• While lentils are simmering make rillettes. In a medium bowl, break up trout with your fingers or with a fork. In a small bowl, mix together olive oil and butter until well amalgamated. Mash trout with a fork, then work in olive oil and butter, and yogurt. Make sure to mash well and to distribute butter, olive oil and yogurt evenly through the mixture. Work in lemon juice and stir in minced chives and pepper. Refrigerate if not using right away. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.
• Spoon warm lentils onto plates or wide bowls. To form quenelles, dip a soup spoon into warm water and scoop up a spoonful of trout mixture. With another soup spoon, round the top of the mound, then ease off on top of the lentils. Repeat with another spoonful and serve.

ROAST TROUT WITH BACON AND HERBS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Cut bacon lengthwise in thin slivers, best done by rolling the slices as for a julienne, then slicing through the rolls. Put butter and oil in a baking dish large enough to hold fish. Place in oven until butter melts and starts to color. Lay bacon slivers in baking dish (don't worry if some break), return dish to oven and cook until bacon is crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove bacon to several thicknesses of paper towel, leaving fat in baking dish.
• Pat trout dry and season with salt and pepper. Place in baking dish and baste with hot fat. Roast for 10 minutes. Baste again. Break bacon into 1-inch pieces and scatter, along with lemon bits, over fish. Add chicken stock to baking dish. Roast for 5 minutes. Baste again and scatter with herbs. Roast 2 minutes more.
• Serve directly from dish, cutting along the back edge of the fish with a sharp knife, then lifting the top fillet off the bones onto a platter or dinner plate. Spoon pan juices over the fish. Remove the bones, head and tail. Serve bottom fillet, then repeat with second fish. Before discarding the heads, check to see if anyone wants to pick out the cheeks.

TROUT WITH LENTILS

Steps:

• Heat oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat.
• Add leeks, carrots, and garlic; saute for 2 minutes.
• Stir in lentils, water, and broth; bring to a boil.
• Cover and reduce heat; simmer for 25 minutes or until lentils are tender and liquid is almost absorbed.
• Remove from heat.
• Add celery, parsley, vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper; stir to combine with the lentil mixture.
• Preheat broiler.
• Sprinkle fillets with the remaining salt (I omit) and pepper, and place them on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
• Broil for 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
• Break fish into chunks and add to lentil mixture.
• Toss gently to combine.

BROOK TROUT ROASTED WITH SAGE, WALNUTS AND BACON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a medium skillet, fry the bacon until it is cooked through and very lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon and set it aside. Pour out excess bacon grease, return the skillet to the heat and add the shallot and walnuts. Toast, shaking the pan frequently, until the walnuts are very lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sage and reserved bacon.
• Season the fish inside and out with salt and pepper and brush the skin lightly with vegetable oil. Divide the bacon mixture between the four trout, stuffing it in the cavity of each fish. Place fish in a large roasting pan fitted with a rack or two smaller pans. Roast until the fish is just cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer the trout to plates and serve garnished with lemon wedges and watercress sprigs.

ROASTED TROUT WITH LENTILS AND VERJUS

Steps:

• For lentils:
• Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add carrot, celery, onion, and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, 5-8 minutes. Mix in lentils and add broth to cover by 1". Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer, adding more broth as needed to keep lentils covered, until lentils are tender, 20-30 minutes. Mix in vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside; keep warm.
• DO AHEAD: Lentils can be cooked 1 day ahead. Let cool; cover and chill.
• For verjus beurre blanc:
• Bring shallot, garlic, star anise, bay leaf, peppercorns, verjus, and wine to a boil in a medium saucepan and cook until reduced to 1/4 cup, 15-20 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small saucepan; discard solids.
• Place saucepan over low heat and gradually whisk in butter, until butter is melted and sauce is emulsified. Whisk in tarragon and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside; keep warm.
• For trout and assembly:
• Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season fish with salt and pepper. Place fish, skin side down, in pan and cook, undisturbed, until skin is crisp and releases from pan, about 4 minutes. Turn fish, add butter to pan, and cook, tilting pan and spooning butter over fish, until opaque throughout, about 2 minutes longer.
• Stir parsley into verjus beurre blanc just before serving. Serve fish with lentils and sauce.