Baked Whole Trout stuffed with fennel, bok choy, and onions.

[buckytom]

i stole an idea from an episode of everyday itaian, and modified one of giada's recipes to suit my ingredients.


Whole Baked Veggie Stuffed Trout

ingredients:

2 whole trout, cleaned, de-finned, beheaded (the original recipe calls for leaving the head on, but that creeps out my wife)

1 small bulb of fennel

1 small head of bok choy, washed and greens removed from stem

1 large onion

2 large stems of fresh thyme (or more, if you like thyme)

evoo, balsamic vinegar, and s&p.


procedure:

all of the work for this dish is in the cleaning of the trout and preparing the veggies.
first, start by thinly slicing the fennel, bok choy stems, and onion on a long bias. combine veggies, add the thyme and toss in evoo, s&p, and just a splash of balsamic vinegar.
stuff the veggie mix into the body cavity of the trout, making sure one stem of thyme goes onto each fish. tie the fish closed to keep it from all falling out. push as much stuffing into it as you can.
put fishes on their sides in a glass baking dish and pile up any remaining veggies between the fish, drizzle evoo generously over top, and sprinkle with s&p.
bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 400 degrees, until the fishes are cooked thru, and the veggies are soft.
the trick is to slice the veggies thin enough that they will cook in the same amount of time as the fish.

the skin should just peel away, and the meat should practically fall apart away from the bones. serve with roasted red skins potatoes.

edited to add: the last few times i made this, i didn't use bok choy, and i added a lot more thyme, and it was just as good.

[Alix]

Originally Posted by buckytom

2 whole trout, cleaned, de-finned, beheaded (the original recipe calls for leaving the head on, but that creeps out my wife)

Smart lady.

How thin do you slice the veggies to get them to cook at the same time as the fish? 1/8 inch? 1/4ish?

Thanks for posting this. It sounds great.

[buckytom]

i'm guessing, but 14/32'nds sounds about right.

but really, maybe 1/8th, on as long a bias as possible to expose the inner structure of the veggie is the idea. a mandolin is perfect for slicing like this. hopefully, santa is reading this. is he a member here, or was that just deadly sushi on my roof last christmas?

[Alix]

Smart arse. Mandolin it is. PM me your DW's email and I will see that "Santa" leaves you a nice present.

[buckytom]

lol, it feels good to be called that again.
dw already has the list, which begins to be tallied on or about boxing day, and ends on the 24th of december. no time to waste.
i will ask you to tell her other stuff that i'm too embarassed to ask for tho.

[Constance]

I would love to have a mandoline, but HB won't let me have one. I have this problem... my daughter says it isn't a meal until Mom slices her finger. I am doing better since I learned from Food Network to curl my fingers under, but I'm still dangerous with a knife. He won't let me have a cleaver, either, for the same reason.

[buckytom]

constance, how would your daughter feel about slicing your knuckles, because mandolins are good for that, once you lose the gripper thingie.

[Alix]

You can cut a whole lot more than your knuckles off with a mandolin...even WITH the stupid gripper thingy. But that is another story for another thread. Planning on trying this one in the next week buckytom, just gotta get me a trout.