Ingredients

  • 2 whole brook trout, cleaned, scaled
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/2 cup almond meal (finely ground almonds)
  • 2 large stalks of rhubarb (or 4 small stalks), cut into fine 2" long julienne
  • 1 bunch spring onions or scallions, whites and greens,, cut into fine 2" long julienne
  • 8 ounces fiddleheads
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons good quality butter
  • 1/4 cup vermouth
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

Method

  • Melt 1 tbsp butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add spring onion julienne and saute for 1 minute. Add rhubarb and saute an additional 1 minute. Remove from pan. Add 1/2 Tbsp butter to pan, add fiddleheads and saute for an additional minute. Remove from pan and keep separate. All veggies should be crisp tender. Remove from pan.
  • Mix together almond meal and a pinch of salt in a dish. Put egg whites in another dish. Dip trout in egg whites then roll trout in flour mixture to coat.
  • Melt 1 tbsp of butter in same skillet over medium high heat. Add thyme leaves. Add trout and saute until first side is crispy, then flip over to crisp the other side (about 2 minutes on each side for small trout). Remove trout from pan and set aside. (tent with foil to keep warm)
  • Deglaze pan with vermouth. Add zest. Add cream and reduce until slightly thickened. Add 1/2 of the onion rhubarb mixture back into pan and toss to coat in sauce.
  • Fillet each trout, carefully check for bone booby traps. Place two fillets on each plate. Spoon creamed veggies onto platter, top with trout fillets, then spoon the remaining rhubarb and onions (uncreamed) over the trout. Surround platter with fiddleheads, and serve. Recipe can be easily multiplied so more people can have a spring fling. Put a bunch of daffodils in a vase on your table and Enjoy!