Thyme Roasted Trout

After a recent fishing trip to Rockbridge, MO, a Moise family tradition, we had plenty of beautiful fresh caught rainbow trout. So much that our entire freezer was full! But it's worth it because these guys are incredibly delicious.

We had the family over for a casual dinner and the trout was the center piece. I wanted to spend more time hanging out and less time time cooking so I did a simple grill roasted trout.

Ingredients (Serves 4):

2 Whole Rainbow Trout
1 Bunch Fresh Thyme
4-5 Lemons, Sliced
Salt and Pepper

Heat grill to 400 degrees.

Clean trout thouroughly with cold water. Set out a sheet of foil large enough to encase the whole trout. Place cleaned trout on foil. Lightly salt and pepper the cavity. Stuff in 3 lemon slices and 1/2 bunch of thyme. Wrap the tout like you'd fold a letter. Fold in sides until you reach the trout. Secure all edges so no flavors escapes. Repeat as necessary with the remaining trout.

Place trout packages evenly spaced over grill and cover. These will cook for roughly 10-15 minutes. Begin checking the fish about 10 minutes in. If the skin comes off easily pull it back and if the fish is white you're done.

When serving, the meat should easily pull off the bone. Pull back the skin and discard. Use a fork to find the backbone. Gently pull the meat down and towards the tail. It should slide right off the ribs. For the meat above the backbone, use a fork to work the meat away from the backbone. There are no other bones in this part so you should have a nice long peice of meat (roughly an inch and half tall by 6-8 inches depending on the size of the trout). Once the rib bones are exposed, grab the tail and slowly pull upwards. The entire backbone should come with it - head and all. Dispose of this or throw it at your sister - you decide! You'll end up with a whole filet on the bottom. Carefully remove the remaining skin and dispose. Repeat with the remaining fish. You can do this entire process quickly after some practice.

We served the trout with garlic and thyme mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus. For the wine paring, my dad brought a lovely bottle of Cakebread Chardonnay. It was quit a treat!