I first tasted smoked trout when we lived in Baltimore. At a farmers’ market near our home, owners of the Metropol Café had a booth where they served all kinds of smoked seafood as well as cheeses. I remember the wonderful aroma and flavor of the smoked trout. One of the two women had gone to Scandinavia to master cold-smoking techniques of preserving seafood.
Now we live in Oregon. I’ve become pretty adept at catching trout, and my spouse has developed a method of smoking in our Weber kettle grill. You don’t need a fancy smoker to smoke meats and seafood. All you need is a Weber kettle grill.
Use as little charcoal as possible because you don’t want a lot of heat. You just need enough to put under your wood chips to heat them.
You can get wood chips for smoking at specialty stores or at Lowe’s, where they usually sell Weber grills. You can also sometimes find wood chips at fireplace stores.
I’ve found that alderwood and applewood lend a really nice flavor to trout and salmon. But I’ve also tried smoking trout with dried lemongrass, which lends a pungent Thai twist to the seafood.
When the coals are lit, pile them all to one side of the grill. Make a rectangular tray out of heavy-duty aluminum foil and fill the tray with the wood chips. Set the aluminum tray filled with wood chips on top of the pile of coals and put the grill on the kettle. Oil the grill with a paper towel dipped in canola oil to keep the fish from sticking and then arrange the cleaned fish on the grill on the side opposite the coals by spreading open their stomach cavities to keep them upright. Cover the kettle and open the vent about a quarter of the way so that the coals won’t go out.
Smoked Trout Mousse
Ingredients
- 2 smoked trout fillets (about 8 ounces)
- 3/4 cup well-chilled heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped coarse
Directions
In a food processor, purée trout with butter, lemon juice, salt and 1/4 cup of the heavy cream until smooth, and transfer to a bowl.
In a very small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over water and let soften 1 minute. Heat over low heat, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Let cool to room temperature.
In a bowl, beat the remaining 1/2 cup (120 ml.) of heavy cream until it holds stiff peaks.
Fold the whipped cream into the trout purée mixture. Add the dissolved gelatin and stir until incorporated and pour into a serving bowl, sprinkle with the chopped dill, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 12 hours.
Serve with crackers, melba toast, sliced apples, or sliced cucumbers.