Just the Way Hemingway Cooked His Trout (but in a fry pan on a fire and absent the smoker)

Bacon-Wrapped Smoked Trout With Tarragon

Saveur magazine, BBQ Nations, issue 139

12 slices bacon

2 whole rainbow trout (about 1 lb. each), cleaned

2 tbsp. olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

6 sprigs tarragon

1. Heat oven to 375°. Place bacon on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until half-cooked, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool. Brush inside and outside of each trout with 1 tbsp. oil, season with salt and pepper, and stuff with 3 sprigs tarragon each; set aside. Arrange 6 bacon slices, overlapping slightly, on a cutting board parallel to you. Place I trout over middle of bacon perpendicular to you, and wrap trout in bacon, arranging it seam side down on the rack of a stove-top smoker (see link for instructions). Repeat with remaining bacon and trout.

2. Prepare stove-top smoker according to manufacturer's instructions, using apple or pecan wood shavings (see Fuel and Flavor); place rack with trout inside. Smoke until fish is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Heat broiler to high and arrange a rack 4″ from broiler element. Transfer trout on smoker rack to a baking sheet and place under broiler; cook until bacon is crisp, about 2 minutes.

Zucchini Vichyssoise

                This delicious cold soup is adapted from Ina Garten’s “Barefoot in Paris” (2004). To build this soup I used organic zucchini, potatoes, spring onions, and banana peppers from the organic farmers market in Evanston, IL, and fresh herbs from my herb garden.

                1              tablespoon unsalted butter

                1              tablespoon olive oil

    4              white skinned potatoes, skins on, chopped

                6              small zucchini, trimmed, skins on, chopped

                2              white spring onions, chopped

                1              banana pepper, cored, seeded and chopped

                2              tablespoons fresh oregano, minced

                6              cups water, chicken stock, or vegetable stock as you wish

                1              cup cream

                1              tablespoon chives, chopped for garnish

                1              teaspoon salt

    1              teaspoon freshly ground pepper to taste

    1              teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Heat the butter and oil in a large stockpot; add the onions and banana pepper and sauté over low heat for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, zucchini, vegetable stock, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Allow to cool and then pass the mixture through a food mill, or mix in batches in a blender. Add the cream and season to taste.

You can serve this either hot or cold, but I prefer serving it as a vichyssoise with a splash of fresh lemon juice and scattering of chives and freshly ground black pepper just before serving.