I love to fish. I almost like to fish more than I like to eat fish (like the Brown Butter Almond Trout recipe below… super yum!), and that’s saying a lot! Not that I’m good at it, but I do love it, especially fly fishing. At the risk of sound super dorky, the thing I love most about it are the waders. No, they’re not super sexy, but it is tons of fun to stand waist deep in a river without getting wet! It feels all slooshie as the water presses all the air out. So cool!
Fishing in the grass
When I was little, back in the day before TSA and airport security, my parents would pop me on a plane by myself to see my Maw-maw and Paw-paw, in Norcross, GA. I loved my grandparents very much, but there wasn’t much to do. Aside from getting the mail out of the mailbox, bible summer school, and running back and forth across the lawn. Oh yeah, one year I did get to play with yarn. Needless to say, casting a fishing line into a bucket created a thrilling diversion.
I spent a lot of time trying to hit that bucket as a kid. Now that we live on a lake, I’ve retired the bucket. I still don’t catch much, but I’m hooked. Our friends Wes and Wanda have a place up in Canada where they enjoy the summer season and lots of fishing.
Wes and Wanda’s slice of Canadian paradise
Wes is from our small town here in the Midwest and Wanda is from Canada and is a proficient fisherman herself!
Wanda with a beautiful Walleye she caught
Each summer they bring home a cooler full of lake trout from Canada. They had us over for dinner and… OMG! Wanda made this butter almond trout (recipe below) that had me dredging bread all over the empty serving plate in order to get every last itty bitty morsel. Luckily, I remembered my manners and did not lick the plate, but I really wanted to.
A Brown Butter Almond Trout Recipe Lesson
It didn’t take any pleading, whining, or begging to get Wanda over to my place to teach me her Brown Buttered Almond Trout recipe. Although, I was totally prepared to do it.
Just for the record, this is NOT Trout Almondine. Typically in a Trout Almandine recipe, the trout is lightly floured before sautéing and there is lemon involved. Emeril makes a lovely Trout Almondine with Worcestershire Sauce, cream, and herbs. Nom nom nom…
However, Wanda’s Brown Butter Almond Trout recipe is way easier and, I think, way better. Sorry, Emeril. This recipe lets a few fresh ingredients take center stage and really strut their stuff. Go ahead and try this recipe with any trout or firm white fish and let me know what you think. 🙂
You can serve it as an appetizer with white toast or saltines… or a Ritz
A perfect bite
Or as the main event at dinner. I dare you not to lick your plate…
because I know you’ll want to.
Brown Buttered Almond Trout Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 trout fillets
- 2 cups slivered almonds
- 6 tablespoons butter
- salt and pepper
- crackers toast, or fresh bread (to serve)
Instructions
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Remove and skin and bones from the fillets. Lightly salt and pepper the trout.
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Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet and brown the fish.
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Remove them and set them aside.
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Add the other 3 tablespoons of butter to the skillet and brown the almonds.
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Put the trout on a serving platter, top with the brown butter almonds and all the little brown crusty bits you can get off the pan.
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Serve with saltine crackers, toast, or fresh bread.
Recipe Notes
An ice cold beer goes great with this or a crisp dry riesling. Although a diet Dr. Pepper goes with just about anything. ?
Serve this as an appetizer with saltines or as the main even with a side of green beans and rice pilaf. A blue cheese stuffed pear salad with also be excellent with this.