Gas Pains

Tom grew up in Milwaukee, bartended in Wauwatosa in the '70s and moved here in 1984.

Commentary, observations and musings about the outdoors, life in general and maybe Tosa politics and personalities will be the order of the day. He savors a lively debate as much as terrific cooking.

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

Terrific Cooking

Metcalf's Sentry recently had wild-caught trout on sale.  So I stocked my freezer with a quantity of these fillets thinking of grilling and smoking opportunities that might present themselves.

Let me tell you - smoked trout is a delicacy that cannot be beat.

Gas Pains' Honey Smoked Trout

To make the brine mix together all of the following:

2 quarts water

1  cup Kosher salt

1/4 cup of Morton's Tender Quick

1 cup honey

2 T seasoned salt

2 T pickling spice

Submerge your fillets  in the brine and marinate for 24 hours in the fridge.  Remove, rinse and pat dry.

Drizzle some additional honey all over the flesh of the fillets.

Smoke over apple wood for a couple of hours at 225 degrees.

Ordinarily I would have used a half-cup of brown sugar in the brine but upon scouring the pantry I discovered that someone used the last of it and failed to place it on the grocery list.  Since improvisation is the mother of invention I used honey instead.  I had an entire jar of honey.  I  couldn't have made a more suitable substitution.

Before

And after

Serving suggestions-

Straight-up with crackers and  fresh cheese curds.

Or toss chunks of the fish with pasta and sautéed garden green beans and squash.  

It's terrific on a toasted bagel with cream cheese too.

If you vacuum package these with a FoodSaver they freeze  well.

In the interest of continuing to improvise - the next time I do his I think I'll substitute maple syrup for the honey.

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