Fishy Friend

On Friday with the prospect of a few days off from work I decided to treat myself with a visit to a local rose garden - more of that at Holly Grove Garden - on the way back home I took a detour via the Handyman's brother's house and stopped for a coffee and a gardening chat - C has just built a fruit cage; the subject of much conversation and another reason for my impromptu visit.

Unexpectedly we moved on to the topic of fishing, coarse or game?  Now I know little or nothing about the sport but have spent a few sunny afternoons with a good book on a riverbank in a previous life whilst my then in-laws did a spot of coarse fishing - lovely memories!

ready for the oven

C, on the other hand prefers game fishing, as he says you can eat what you catch!  And lucky us, he produced from his freezer two beautiful freshwater trout that he had caught a couple of days before from a fishing trip to Wales and gave them to me.  C prepares the fish, gutted and scaled, before freezing so all I had to do on Friday was pop one back into our freezer and let the other defrost whilst I found a suitable way of cooking it.

Jamie to the rescue...an unbelievably simple, quick and tasty way to prepare such a thoughtful gift for the table.  The Handyman and I shared the trout, more than enough for two, and are looking forward to the one left in the freezer!

Trout Roasted with Thyme and Lemon
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 large (or 2 small) whole trout
1 handful of lemon thyme (ours came from HG kitchen garden)
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, cut into halves
2 bay leaves

Method
Heat the oven to 230C.  Line a roasting tin with foil.  Then wash the fish inside and out and dry with kitchen paper.  Put the thyme with the olive oil in a pestle and grind together.  Spread the thyme mixture on the inside and top of the fish and place in the prepared roastng tin.  Cut a small slit in the lemon halves and insert the bay leaves.  Add to the roasting tin.  Place the fish in the oven and roast for about 15 minutes (10 minutes if using 2 smaller fish).  And that's it!  The fish will lift easily off the bone and has a lovely delicate flavour; for those who don't like salmon, just try trout...much more subtle.

ready to eat

I made saute potatoes with garlic and red onion and a plain green salad to go with the fish, de..lic..ious!!!