ryork
Senior Member
Been a batchelor for the last few days, wife and daughter are still in TN with our son getting settled in the new digs. Thawed a pack of speckled trout from our recent FL trip and had those two nights. That first one was definitely up there in my favorite dishes in some time. Pan seared the fish, served with some cheese grits, pan roasted okra, seared Andouille and a Crystal (as in the hot sauce) buerre blanc pan sauce. While plain ole fried will always be my favorite okra technique, this is right up there. Get some oil scorching hot in a cast iron pan, sear them on the flat side, flip and coat with some creole seasoning and squeeze some lemon juice in it. That hard sear is what makes it.
The second trout dish, again seared, is with some eggplant dish I stole the idea from some restaurant in Charleston years ago. Basically, carrot, celery, garlic, shallot, eggplant and country ham all smothered down. That thick base is a romesco sauce, roasted an heirloom tomato, banana pepper and onion in the oven. Put them in a blender with raw peanuts, garlic, wheat bread cubes, olive oil, a hint of vinegar and a hydrated guajillo pepper.
And lastly, ribs, cream corn and pole beans with roasted heirloom tomato and roasted sesame and other seeds. As simple as it was, those beans were the star! Just boiled in chicken stock with salt. That tomato was roasted in the oven for 2 hrs at 180 degrees with salt and olive oil. But all together it was incredible.
The second trout dish, again seared, is with some eggplant dish I stole the idea from some restaurant in Charleston years ago. Basically, carrot, celery, garlic, shallot, eggplant and country ham all smothered down. That thick base is a romesco sauce, roasted an heirloom tomato, banana pepper and onion in the oven. Put them in a blender with raw peanuts, garlic, wheat bread cubes, olive oil, a hint of vinegar and a hydrated guajillo pepper.
And lastly, ribs, cream corn and pole beans with roasted heirloom tomato and roasted sesame and other seeds. As simple as it was, those beans were the star! Just boiled in chicken stock with salt. That tomato was roasted in the oven for 2 hrs at 180 degrees with salt and olive oil. But all together it was incredible.
