Trout!

This week’s topics includes pan fried trout caught by Thing 1, some Wannabe Foodie butchery, Denver Mexican food revisited, the Wannabe Foodie eats something that almost induces vomiting, and some unique dinner ambience.

 

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What am I working on?   Butterflied and pan fried trout! 

First, the backstory.  So this last weekend I took Things 1&2 camping up at Stampede Reservoir.  For those of you not in Reno, it’s a fairly large reservoir 20 miles or so northwest of Reno.  The forecast was for rain and chilly temperatures.  Oddly enough, the Red didn’t jump at the chance to join us. 

We did what you’re supposed to do while camping in the mountains.  We went fishing. 

So Thing 1 pulls up a 2-3 lb. Mackinaw trout.  For those of you who aren’t fishermen, that’s a very nice sized trout.  Beautiful orange colored flesh which is reminiscent of salmon.  You can bet your sweet paella that I’m cooking this beauty up.

So I'm back home from camping and I’m pondering what to do with this critter, which I have never cooked.  I’ve cooked a lot of rainbow and brown trout, but not a mackinaw.  Bake it?  How very Betty Crocker.  Grill it whole?  Ok, that has some promise.  Go Man vs. Wild and cook it campfire style in aluminum foil with lemon, butter, salt, and pepper in the cavity?  That also has some promise, and it’s a great way to cook fresh trout while out camping. 

However, none of those options excites me.  Thing 1 caught a beautiful, somewhat rare trout and I need to do something special with it.  I decide to butterfly it, which I’ve never done before.  It involves cutting the rib cage and back bone out of the fish so that it lies flat.  My first try, so the butchery wasn’t the best.  But, not bad.

I got out my lovely, beautiful, plan-to-hand-it-down-to-one-of-the-Things cast iron skillet and cranked up the heat.  Brushed the fish with olive oil and seasoned it with a little salt and pepper.  Seared it on both sides to about medium-rare.  Here it is cooking.  Note the dog fervently wishing for something to drop. 

I topped the trout with a compound butter made with lemon zest, lemon juice, and parsley.  Isn’t she pretty? 

We served the trout with a fresh green salad (with homemade vinaigrette, of course), some oven roasted potatoes, some mac ‘n cheese I stole from the Things, and some fresh French bread.  And, no, I didn’t bake the bread.  I was camping.  Cut me a little slack. 

If that dish doesn’t make you hungry, there’s something wrong with you.   

The review?  Very nice fish and a great way to prepare it.  Butterflying the fish was challenging, though clearly something I’ll get better at with time.  You just need a steady hand, a sharp knife (shockingly, I had one on hand), and some patience.

The cast iron put a nice crust on the fish and the compound butter was a nice way to finish it.

Denver Mexican Food Revisited.  As some of you may recall, I did a less than favorable review of the restaurant Tamayo in one of my first blogs.  I may have suggested that Tamayo reminded me of Jessica Simpson (beautiful, but lacking any substance).  I also indicted Denver Mexican food in general.

  

A number of my Denver friends have since assured me that there is, in fact, good authentic Mexican food in Denver.  Recently, my friend J took it upon himself to prove it.

J took me to Tacos Y Salsa (TYS) on Federal and Mississippi.  For those of you who don’t live in Denver, that is most definitely in the ‘hood’.  TYS is first and foremost a taco place, and they make their own tortillas right in front of you.  The woman in this photo made tortillas nonstop while we were there.    

From her press to the griddle to my tacos.  I think I love that woman….

  

So we belly up to the counter and proceed to order a number of different tacos.  The reviews:

The absolutely fabulous.  Adobada and al pastor.  I would have eaten as many of these as they put in front of me.  I’ve got to figure out how to make those!

The pretty darn good.  Barbacoa.  Good, rich flavor, but not otherworldly good.

The just ok.  Carnitas.  Somewhat dry and simply not that flavorful.

The bad.  Chicharrones.  Chicharrones are pork rinds and they’re usually fried.  These were not.  They were braised.  The flavor was good, but the texture was disgusting.  Akin to large chunks of slimy tofu that slid down your throat as you ate them.    

The vomit-inducing.  At the end of our meal, out server gave us a chile relleno.  The chile was not fresh.  I think it was dried and then steamed.  Or mummified and reconstituted.  Either way, it was flat out disgusting.  The WF will eat just about anything and I had to suppress my gag reflex after my first and only bite.  Horrible.

The ambience.  Well, let’s just say it’s not Chili’s.  Young women in sandals and swimsuits who apparently just came from the water park.   Lots of children without shoes.  A woman in line in front of us who had to be pregnant with twins or triplets.  Families having dinner.  Horchata dispensers that appear to have never been cleaned.

 

The music was truly… special.  First, traditional Mexican music.  Then old hip hop.  Then more Mexican music.  Then 2 Live Crew.  Loud.  With children running around.  Wow.

 

All in all, TYS had some great tacos and I would definitely go back.  However, there are definitely some things that I will never order again!

 

Comments?  Post one below or email me.  renofoodiescott@gmail.com. 

WF