Pan-Fried Trout with Fennel and Grapefruit Salad

Name: Pan-Fried Trout with Fennel and Grapefruit Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Argentine
Ingredients: 4 fresh trout fillets, skin on, scaled and boned; All-purpose flour (plain flour), as needed, for a light dusting; Juice of 1 lemon; Butter, as needed, for frying; Olive oil, as needed; Salt and black pepper, to taste; 500 ml apple juice, for the dressing; 5 g black pepper, whole or ground, for the dressing; 1 sprig of fresh thyme, for the dressing; 1 tsp celery salt, for the dressing; 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, for the dressing; 2 fresh fennel bulbs, for the salad; 2 pink grapefruits, for the salad; Lemon wedges and rosemary sprigs, to garnish

⏱ 30 min in total🔪 15 min prep🍳 15 min cooking🍽 4 portiesMedium

Trout with crisp skin on a salad of raw fennel and pink grapefruit, with a dressing of reduced apple juice and balsamic vinegar. A restaurant-worthy fish dish in under 30 minutes.

The trout goes into the pan skin side down first and stays there. Two to three minutes without moving: in that time the skin turns crisp and releases from the pan on its own. Move it too early and you tear it off.

The apple juice reduces to about a sixth, until it is syrupy — that takes its time and is the only slow step in the dish, so it is worth starting there.

Ingredients

Measurements

🍽 4 servings

4 fresh trout fillets, skin on, scaled and boned
All-purpose flour (plain flour), as needed, for a light dusting
Juice of 1 lemon
Butter, as needed, for frying
Olive oil, as needed
Salt and black pepper, to taste
500 ml apple juice, for the dressing
5 g black pepper, whole or ground, for the dressing
1 sprig of fresh thyme, for the dressing
1 tsp celery salt, for the dressing
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, for the dressing
2 fresh fennel bulbs, for the salad
2 pink grapefruits, for the salad
Lemon wedges and rosemary sprigs, to garnish

Method

1
Preparing the fish: choose very fresh trout fillets with clean skin. Dust them lightly with flour, shaking off the excess.
2
Cooking for crisp skin: heat a pan over medium heat with a splash of olive oil and a cube of butter. Put the fillets in skin side down and cook them for 2 or 3 minutes, until the skin looks well browned and crisp.
3
Turning and seasoning: turn the fillets carefully with a spatula. Season them, drizzle with the lemon juice and cook for 2 minutes more on the other side. Take off the heat and keep warm.
4
Reducing the dressing: in a small pan over medium heat, warm the apple juice with the pepper and the sprig of fresh thyme. When it boils, turn the heat to its lowest and carry on cooking until it has reduced to a sixth and has the consistency of a syrup: depending on the pan, between 25 and 35 minutes. It is the only slow step in the dish, so it is worth starting here. Let it cool and mix it with the celery salt and the balsamic vinegar.
5
Building the salad: cut the fennel bulbs into very fine slices on the diagonal (you can use a mandolin). Segment the pink grapefruits, removing the white pith. Mix both in a bowl and dress them with the reduced apple dressing.
6
Lay the hot trout fillets on the plates, arrange the fresh fennel and grapefruit salad alongside, and garnish with fresh lemon wedges and a few sprigs of rosemary.