Fish is always a household favourite. It offers a huge variety of options, good health benefits, and perhaps above all, typically a very short prep time! If your house is anything like ours cooking a roast dinner is a luxury reserved for the weekend, so picking up a fresh piece of fish on the way home from work is a popular option.
Steelhead trout is a great alternative to salmon. It offers that "meaty" property while giving up a bit of the oiliness. Good news is it can still stand up to robust flavours so you don't have to pussyfoot around when it comes to cooking it.
I adapted this recipe from a holiday snack favourite of ours, The Union Square Cafe's Bar Nuts. It turns out this rich, warm flavour profile pairs perfectly with the fish! This is now my go-to recipe when we get a nice piece of steelhead.
Steelhead trout is a great alternative to salmon. It offers that "meaty" property while giving up a bit of the oiliness. Good news is it can still stand up to robust flavours so you don't have to pussyfoot around when it comes to cooking it.
I adapted this recipe from a holiday snack favourite of ours, The Union Square Cafe's Bar Nuts. It turns out this rich, warm flavour profile pairs perfectly with the fish! This is now my go-to recipe when we get a nice piece of steelhead.
Ingredients:
Please Note: This simple recipe is really more of a ratio, and can easily be adjusted to the size of fish, or even your palate. Crank up the cayenne if you want to feel the burn, the fish can handle it! |
- Preheat your oven to 450°F.
- Combine ingredients in a bowl.
- Rub a thin coating of olive oil on the SKIN SIDE ONLY of the fish. This is important because the first time I made this I oiled the whole thing and the brown sugar/butter mixture rolled right off as soon as it hit the heat. Salt & pepper the skin if you plan on eating it (you better...)
- Turn fish over and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
- Press ingredient mixture onto the flesh of the fish.
- Place fish in the oven on the bottom rack. Let cook until you see the edges just start to curl up/the skin getting crispy, and the sugar starting to caramelize. This shouldn't take longer than maybe 6-8 minutes.
- Remove pan. Drizzle any of the seasoning that's dripped off back onto the fish using a spoon. You should find the drippings to be darker and thicker than what's cooked on the flesh, but not burnt.
- Put fish under your broiler to finish. You want to pull it once the sugar has carmelized into a perfect glaze. When working with the broiler I always set a timer every 2 minutes, and stay in the kitchen while it's cooking. It's a great tool but it will burn the crap out of your lovely dinner if you don't respect it!
- Remove cooked fish and place on a rack to cool while you plate the rest of the meal. I find finishing it off with a sprinkle of kosher or sea salt is a really nice touch. For those that don't like the skin the meat can easily be lifted off using a spatula.
Besides the flavour being incredible I favour this recipe as it pretty much prevents you from overcooking the fish and drying it out. The sugar would turn into carbon by the time you ruined the meat. I can also confirm this recipe works great for salmon if it's what you happen to have on hand.
I've been hankering to try this out on the BBQ... if any of you winter grill masters are feeling adventurous let me know how it turned out!
℅
Rick
I've been hankering to try this out on the BBQ... if any of you winter grill masters are feeling adventurous let me know how it turned out!
℅
Rick