Poached Trout In Vegetable Broth

Jacques Pépin | September 19, 2011

Episode 122: Good Catch!
Recipe: Poached Trout In Vegetable Broth

Trout are poached with onions, carrots, scallions, and herbs. Their skin is then removed, the meat slid off the bone, and the fillets finished with a sauce made from the broth a little butter and oil. This fish can be served whole if guests don’t mind removing the skin and the bones themselves.

Serves 4

2 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 8 ounces)
1/2 cup sliced onion
1 carrot (2 ounces), peeled and thinly sliced (1/3 cup)
1 scallion, trimmed (leaving some green) and cut into 1-inch pieces (2 tablespoons)
1 bay leaf
1 fresh thyme sprig
2 strips lime zest, removed with a vegetable peeler
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup fruity dry white wine
2 trout (about 12 ounces each), gutted and heads removed
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover them with cold water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and boil the potatoes, uncovered, for 30 minutes, until they are tender. Drain off the water and set the potatoes aside until they are cool enough to handle.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-inch cubes. Put the cubes in a baking dish and keep warm in the oven.

Combine onion, carrot, scallion, bay leaf, thyme, lime zest, salt, pepper, water, and wine in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and boil gently for 1 minute.

Add the trout and return to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, lift the trout from the broth, and place on a plate. Remove and discard the skin, then remove the 2 fillets from the central bone of each fish (discard the bones); the meat will slide off the bone easily if the trout are cooked. Arrange the fillets in a baking dish and keep them warm in the oven while you make the sauce.

Add the butter and oil to the broth and bring to a strong boil.

Arrange a few cubes of potato in the bottom of each soup plate and place a trout fillet on top. Spoon the broth and vegetables on top and serve.

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