My husband doesn’t eat fish, so i rarely cook it. But i like fish, my adult daughter (who lives with us) likes fish, and my husband is out of town. So i went to the supermarket and picked up some thing labeled “steelhead trout”. I like all the other fish I’ve tried in the trout/salmon family, and it looked fresh.
But I’ve never cooked it. It’s dinner tonight. I have about a pound, which is most of one side of a fish. Skin on, probably not a lot of bones.
The guy who sold it to me recommended baking at 350F for 20 minutes. That’s my default. But honestly, he seemed pretty clueless. So i thought I’d ask here.
This is really old but I have come to love this YouTube chef (chef John from Food Wishes). I am sure you can find other recipes but this is simple and fast and looks yummy (I have not tried it personally):
If you have a probe thermometer, I would recommend doing it at 425 until the inner temp is 140. I wouldn’t recommend using time/temp unless you’ve done it a lot before. It’s easy to overcook. The thermometer should get it cooked perfectly. Coat in olive oil and salt. We do steel head a lot and there’s usually not any bones. When there are bones, they have been small and soft. It is a delicious fish. Similar to salmon.
If you’re still grilling, this is my favorite recipe for steel head trout or salmon:
Melt a couple tablespoons of butter with 1-2 minced garlic cloves. Add fines herbes to taste (1/4 tsp-ish) to butter mixture. Brush butter on both sides of fish pieces (leave skin on). Grill skin side down, then flip, remove skin (or leave on if you enjoy it) and continue to grill, brushing with any leftover butter mixture until it’s cooked to your preference. Serve with lemon if desired.
Easy peasy, no clean up to speak of. Takes no time at all. It is lovely when served with a nice risotto and any fresh vegetable.
Your recipe and the one in the video I posted above seem pretty similar. Some variance (garlic and herbs) but that’s just cooking what you like. The basic premise is the same which suggests it is a good way to go (grill or oven broiler is up to you but I think for something as delicate as this the oven broiler would be a lot simpler and easier…you do you though, I am sure either would be great).
The video uses a broiler in an oven. Takes a couple minutes. I am sure you could do it in a pan on the stove too. I’d think the oven is faster and easier (especially if you use aluminum foil…clean-up would take 5 seconds).
I grill over charcoal, which imparts a flavor that can’t be duplicated in a broiler or in a frying pan, but you’ll have a good result nevertheless. I prefer mine without lemon, but I think that’s different than most people.
I once served my recipe to friends who had said when asked if they had particular food dislikes, “Oh, no, we love everything!” But what they meant was, everything except salmon. When I set down their plates, they looked unnerved. But they were intrepid and ate it anyway. Finished their portions, in fact. The wife paid me the compliment of saying, “You made salmon that doesn’t taste like salmon!”
I grill 12 months out of the year. I’d wash and pat the fish dry. Rub with oil on your fingers. Put it on the grill skin side down with a dusting of paprika for color. Steelhead trout is fairly delicate flavored. I’d serve it with a lemon wedge garnish.
Better to undercook a bit than to overdo it at all. Cover with foil for a few minutes standing time.
My dogs get the skin after dinner. They love it when I grill fish.
I’m making ceviche tonight for dinner. Never had steelhead trout ceviche but I’ll bet it would be wonderful, though you’d have to skin it.
My oven bakes and roasts beautifully, and the range is super. But the broiler is underpowered and often annoying. I used to broil all the time, but I’ve kinda given up. I grill (but it will be dark before my daughter gets home, and i don’t want to be grilling an unfamiliar food in the dark) and i use a variety of frying pans, and i bake with and without convection.
I’d go for a simple Asian recipe. Preseason with salt a little rice wine and slip it in a hot pan fry it both sides. Remove it. Heat bean paste then add garlic ginger, some stock and soy sauce slip the fish back in the pan braise it until cooked.
I’ve been eating fresh fish this week, a little too mild with just butter and garlic imho.
Obviously too late for tonight’s dinner, but I like trout with sliced tomatoes, onion, and basil (tomato and onion sliced very thin). Add a bit of olive oil, wrap it in a foil packet and toss it on the grill. I forgot how long I cook it for but when the onion slices are soft, it’s good to go.
I melted some butter, and added some chopped parsley and a crushed clove of garlic. I brushed the skin with the butter, and laid the fish skin-side down in the pan I’d melted the butter in. Then i brushed the tops with the butter. I cooked for a while, then flipped, and brushed the skin with the rest of the butter. I love the crispy skin i get on Arctic char, and thought I’d like this, too, but i think i didn’t crisp it enough, i probably won’t eat it. Anyway, i eventually covered the pan with a lid to cook the interior without overcooking the exterior, and flipped the pieces once more, and served.
It was good, but i felt the garlic was a little too strong for for fish. And i can’t believe I’m saying this, but i think i used too much butter.
It was more than we could eat (because the butcher couldn’t cut to weight) so i wrapped the leftovers in the skin, and put it in a sealed container in the fridge. I’ll have the rest for lunch tomorrow.
Glad it was good. I never have as much seafood, especially fish. as I would prefer. One, in Colorado, if it’s not IQF, it’s stupidly pricey, and second, well, the wife doesn’t eat meat, and the smell of fish is quite strong and lingering, even if I clean as I go, so it’s near last on the things I make.
Wait, I feel the vapors coming upon me again, “Too much butter?!?!”
I’m going to lie down and go to bed. This may be too much for my sensibilities!
Our old campfire recipe was gut & scale, leave head on, fry in butter with lemon-pepper seasoning, serve with fresh lemon to taste. Basically just like any other trout.
Yeah, trout is kinda delicate, so dont overdo any cooking oils.
Joking aside, trout is delicate so I think needs a delicate touch when cooking. Practice makes perfect. Be sure to jot down some notes for yourself the next time you cook some trout (I admit I am bad at that…I mean to do it but too often forget to do that…you’d think I’d learn).
I can see how this would be the case with pan frying. Using the grill, the excess butter drips away and the grill heat tends to carmelize and mellow the garlic. But hey, you gave it a try! Sorry it didn’t turn out to your liking.
All trout and salmon can be cooked the same way, which is to say don’t overcook. When it can flake via fork its done. The main recipe selection criteria is the size and whether its whole or filleted. Some like lake trout (actually a char) are considered “greasy” so might need adjustment.
Taxonomically, they’re just names, and e.g. steelhead is more closely related to king salmon than it is brown trout.
Simple with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon is good (lemon slices stuffed in body cavity if whole), or more elaborate things like parchment-wrapped. Things like garlic are always appreciated.
