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PAN-FRIED TROUT WITH MUSHROOMS AND TARRAGON
January 10, 2023
Pan-fried trout with mushrooms and tarragon. “Here we are going to braise some lovely mushrooms with a little wine and a few other bits and bobs, before popping a couple of pan-fried trout fillets on the top to finish cooking. We will then add butter and a little tarragon, olive oil and seasoning to lift everything up together ready for serving. This is not a new flavour combination, but a classic and works really well with the subtle and delicate flavour of the fresh trout fillets. It would go really well with a simple rice pilaf and some purple sprouting broccoli” – Tim Maddams
Recipe courtesy: British Trout Association
Serves 2
Prep time 15 mins
Cooking time 20 mins
Ingredients
- 150g chestnut mushrooms
- 150g oyster mushrooms
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ½ glass dry white wine
- 80g butter
- 1 small onion
- 2 British trout fillets
- Salt and pepper
- Light olive oil – just a glug or two
- A small sprig of parsley, chopped
- A few stems of tarragon, chopped
- 1 tablespoon crème fraiche
- Half a lemon
- The very best olive oil – just a dessertspoonful or so
Method
- Lightly season the trout fillets with salt and pepper and allow them to come to room temperature.
- Quarter the chestnut mushrooms into pound coin thick slices and tear your oyster mushrooms up a little.
- Finely dice the onion and chop the garlic.
- Heat a well trusted frying pan and add a little light olive oil.
- Gently place the trout fillets in the pan skin side down and cook over a moderate heat until the skin is golden and the fish is cooked about 1/3 of the way though – this will probably take around 2 mins.
- Remove the trout from the pan and set it aside on a warmed plate skin side up. Once they have cooled a little you should be able to easily peel off the skin and discard it.
- Put half the butter in the pan along with the diced onion and garlic and fry these for a minute or two until the onion softens a little.
- Add all the mushrooms and cook over a high heat for a minute or two, then add the wine and cook down a little.
- Reduce the heat and pop a lid on the pan – allow the mushrooms to cook for another 5 minutes on very low.
- Season everything and add the rest of the butter to the mushroom pan, pop the trout fillets on top of the mushrooms.
- Replace the lid on the pan and cook for 5 more minutes on a very low heat.
- Remove the lid from the pan, turn off the heat and lift the fish out from the mushrooms.
- Add most of the parsley and tarragon and all of the crème fraiche to the buttery braised mushrooms and spoon these over the fish fillets.
- Squeeze over a little lemon and scatter a few more leaves of tarragon and parsley over the top – drizzle with very good olive oil and enjoy.
