Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Fine salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, divided
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 4 (11- to 13-inch) trout, split open and cleaned
- 1/2 lemon, plus more as needed
- 1-1/2 cups slivered or sliced almonds
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit
- Pour the flour in a shallow dish and season generously with salt and pepper. Adjust seasonings to taste.
- Preheat 2 tablespoons of the butter and the oil in a large frying pan set over medium- to medium-high heat.
- While the oil is heating, dredge the trout in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess.
- When the oil is hot, cook the trout, turning when necessary to brown the outside and cook the fish, about 5 to 6 minutes. Keep the cooked trout in the warm oven while you make the sauce.
- Pour out the oil in which the trout were cooked, and then add the rest of the butter and the juice from half a lemon, (use the whole lemon if you like it tart).
- When the butter has melted and begun to sizzle, use a whisk to stir and scrape up all of the bits of flour remaining on the bottom of the pan from cooking the trout. Add the almonds, continually tossing them in the butter to toast evenly.
- While the butter and almonds are browning, place the trout on warm plates.
- When the butter has foamed and the almonds are dark brown (but not burned), quickly toss on the chopped parsley, give the pan a couple of shakes, and immediately pour over the fish, distributing the almonds evenly.
Make this trout amandine recipe — trout with almonds — for a classic French dish well-suited to any white fish, if you don’t happen to have trout on hand.
I don’t eat trout very often but when I do, I usually resort to the classic preparation still found in most Paris bistros, Truite Amandine. When I was working in New Orleans at the Louis XVI this preparation was standard fare, although we used spotted sea trout. This recipe is great for any white fish. At The Mint we use this recipe for not only trout, but also sautéed halibut, white drum, and even skate. It also works very well with snapper, redfish, smaller salmon, and a host of others.
More Recipes from Open Range:
Recipe reprinted with permission from Open Range © 2012 by Jay Bentley and Patrick Dillon Scott, Running Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group.
