A Fishy Tale

On Friday I achieved a new 'first'; I prepared my first fish dinner...from scratch! Yes, I do mean it came fully formed, fresh from the river, and I did all the rest myself.

Can you believe that I went to pick my puppy up from his stay with the trainer, only to be asked if I wanted to take one of his latest catches home with me. Talk about a bargain; 1 happy, tired pup and dinner sorted.

It must have been my lucky day as this little beauty is what was passed to me. A gleaming rainbow trout, my favourite!

Armed with a knife and a youtube clip of what to do, I got started. Not to fret though, there are no images of what came next. Suffice to say, it is not as messy as I expected but since I am trying to showcase a fishy dinner I felt that fishy inners may not be the best route to take. So onto the next step. De-boning and filling.

I took both of the fillets off the fish and removed the scales. Now I was in familiar territory.

Once I got to this stage I could get to the fun part and start thinking flavours. I opted for a rich and salty affair with artichoke hearts, rye bread and feta cheese (sorry any die hard italian chefs but this is one instance where I do like fish and cheese together). To those who don't feel I have broken a cardinal cookery sin, I have popped a recipe at the bottom of the post for this filling. Keep scrolling down to check it out.

With the first fillet skin side down I piled the filling on, then placed the other on top with some streaky bacon rashers, and it was into the oven for 20 mins. Easy peasey don't forget the lemon squeezy.

As the fish cooked there was just enough time to boil some new potatoes and green beans as well as a couple of rounds of 'thoult shall have a fishy on a little dishy' whilst I skipped around the kitchen. Once the time was up, this is what emerged from the oven...boy did it smell good!

Not a huge skin eater, I chose to serve it like this. But each to their own.

When I think of how much I love a good bit of fish, it shames me to say that I had not learnt this skill sooner. There is still room for improvement, as 3 bones were discovered when we tucked in, but I felt jolly proud of myself for my first attempt.

Thank you Mister Trout AND Mister Trainer!

Recipe for Filling

1 Jar of artichoke hearts in oil - drained and chopped

1 Slice of rye bread - chopped

60g Feta - crumbled

2tbsp Olive oil

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Pinch of garlic salt

Black pepper - to your liking

+ Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. 

+ That's it!