Trout always reminds me of my childhood in Alloa. My poppy (grandad!) used to go out fly fishing for trout down to the River Devon; many a morning I'd come down the stairs bleary-eyed to be started awake by the sight of two or three specimen waiting in the sink to be cleaned. (And on a couple of occasions, a bunny that he had managed to do a trade for if he'd got a good haul that day!)
Now, I look back and wish I had that sort of produce available to me now... but at the time I wasn't a huge trout fan - only really loving it in fish pie. I think maybe it was just a bit too strongly flavoured for my young palette - definitely not the case now.
Though I have cooked with trout many times since then - this was the first time I'd tried my hand at this very simple, but very tasty Scottish dish. Trout fillets are coated in oatmeal before being fried until crunchy, then served with parsley lemon butter.
I decided to dish it it with a spring onion potato cake, some lightly steamed, fine sliced runner beans, and a couple of oven roasted tomatoes.
And, just for a little something a little different, here's an old children's song, originally written in the 1950s by Sandy Thomas Ross in a book called Bairnsangs (i.e. Children's Songs!)
The Auld Troot
The auld broon troot lay unner a stane,
Unner a stane lay he,
An he thocht o' the wund,
An he thocht o' the rain,
An the troot that he uist tae be.
A'm a gey auld troot, said he tae hissel,
A gey auld troot, said he,
An there's mony a queer-like
Tale A cuid tell
O' the things that hae happened tae me.
They wee-hafflin trooties are aa verra smart,
They're aa verra smert, said he,
They ken aa the rules
O' the gemm aff by hairt,
An they're no aften catched, A'll agree.
They're thinkin A'm auld an they're thinkin A'm duin,
They're thinkin A'm duin, said he,
They're thinkin A'm no
Worth the flirt o' a fin
Or the blink o' a bonnie black ee.
But A'm safe an A'm smug in ma bonnie wee neuk,
A'm safe an A'm snug, said he,
A'm the big fush that
Nae fusher can heuk,
An A'll aye be that - till A dee!
I'll leave you to decipher that amongst yourselves... ah'll gie ye a heidstart, auld's old!
Trout in Oatmeal
- 2 large trout fillets
- 1 cup of fine ground oatmeal
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp butter, softened
- 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- The zest and juice of half a lemon
- A good grind of black pepper
- nut oil to fry
MIx together the butter, parsley lemon zest/juice and black pepper together until smooth. Place on a sheet of clingfilm and wrap tightly, before putting it back in the fridge to firm up.
Prepare the Trout...
Mix together the salt and the oatmeal. Cut each fillet of trout in two, then dip into the milk. Let the excess milk drain off, then dip into the oatmeal mixture - being sure to coat thoroughly. Place in the fridge while you prepare the sides!
Cook the Trout...
Heat a decent amount of oil in a shallow frying pan. Get it nice and hot - we want to get a good crunch going for the oatmeal - without overcooking the fish!
Carefully lay the trout into the oil, and allow to cook for a couple of minutes, until the oatmeal is nice and golden. Carefully turn and cook for another couple of minutes on the other side.
Serve!
Place the trout on a warm plate with the rosti and veg. Take the parsley butter out the fridge and cut into slice with a shape knife. Place the butter on the trout - and enjoy!
I managed to find a pic of pretty much exactly where my poppy took me fishing once. I didn't catch any trout... I don't think being a 9 year old mad child was conducive to the peace and quiet required... I wasn't asked back! But it was such a beautiful day and a beautiful place.
Scottish Word of the Day!
Greet - cry, also greeting - crying
When ma wee sister saw th' deid bunnie*, she started greetin' til ma mither said she didnae huv tae eat it! But whit she didnae ken wis that the chicken pie she et that night, may no huv been chicken efter a'!
When ma wee sister saw th' deid bunnie*, she started greetin' til ma mither said she didnae huv tae eat it! But whit she didnae ken wis that the chicken pie she et that night, may no huv been chicken efter a'!
* Oh, and here's another random Scottish fact for you - did you know that the word bunny comes from the old Scottish word 'bun', meaning rabbit??
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