Brook Trout Sauteed with Mushrooms
Submitted by sj
Brook trout sauteed with mushrooms, finished with brown butter, lime juice, and fresh parsley. A French meuniere-style preparation with whole fish or fillets.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
20 minREADY
30 minThis brook trout gets the classic French meunière treatment: dipped in milk, dredged in flour, and sautéed golden in oil, then topped with browned mushrooms, lime juice, and a drizzle of hazelnut-brown butter. It’s an elegant dish that takes about 30 minutes from start to plate.
The milk soak before the flour dredge seasons the fish and helps the coating stick. The milk also promotes browning, so the trout develops a golden, crisp exterior instead of a pale, soft one.
The brown butter finale is what makes this restaurant-worthy. The remaining butter gets heated in a clean pan until it turns a deep hazelnut brown, smelling nutty and toasted. Poured sizzling over the fish and mushrooms, it adds a richness that plain melted butter just can’t match.
Chef Tips
- Cook only 3 trout at a time so each one has contact with the pan. Crowding creates steam and you lose the crisp coating.
- Sauté the mushrooms over high heat until all the liquid evaporates and they brown. Wet mushrooms turn the crispy fish soggy.
- Watch the brown butter carefully. It goes from golden to burned in seconds. Pull it off the heat as soon as it smells nutty and turns amber.
- Serve immediately. This dish doesn’t hold. The crispy crust softens quickly under the butter and mushrooms.
Variations
- Use rainbow trout or any small freshwater fish in place of brook trout.
- Swap lime juice for lemon juice for a more traditional meunière flavor.
- Add a handful of capers to the brown butter for a briny, tangy pop.
Ingredients
Directions
Put the trout in a dish, add the milk, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Turn them several times to coat well. Set aside.
Spread the flour over a flat dish.
Remove the trout from the milk and dredge them in the flour.
Shake off any excess flour.
Heat half of the oil in a nonstick frying pan large enough to hold 3 trout in one layer.
Cook them over medium heat for 4 minutes on one side.
Turn them and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, or until brown.
Transfer the trout to a warm platter and keep them warm.
Repeat the process using the remaining oil and fish.
Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a frying pan over high heat.
Add the mushroom slices and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Sauté them, stirring and shaking the pan, until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are nicely browned.
Arrange the mushrooms over the trout and sprinkle with the lime juice.
Melt the remaining butter in a frying pan over high heat, shaking the pan, until the butter turns hazlenut brown.
Pour it over the trout, sprinkle with the parsley, and serve immediately.
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