A while back, I posted about a wonderfully delectable treat from Michigan-- the pasty-- in this post. It was a night when I was on my own for dinner, since Jay was teaching class, and I made something that he wouldn't be too particularly fond of. Tonight, I did the same-- I made one of my absolute favorite meals: brook trout.
Trout are in many lakes and streams of Michigan, and fishing for them is far and away one of my favorite wilderness activities. Rainbows are great, browns are fun, but brookies are superb. They are just a little more difficult to catch than their cousins, and to me--they are more beautiful--especially when in their late summer/early fall spawning colors. Tonight's dinner was caught on a dry fly in September on the banks of the AuSable River in Northern Michigan. I remember it well.
If you like salmon, chances are pretty good that you will like trout, too. They can also be prepared in any number of ways: grilled, broiled, dredged and pan-fried, sauteed, you name it. Tonight, I sauteed my little brookie in brown butter and garlic. No recipe, just three ingredients, a covered pan, medium high heat, and 4 minutes per side. That's it. I then carefully flaked the meat off of the bones (trout bones can be plentiful and somewhat tricky to remove, but worth the effort), and paired it up with a baked potato and broccoli--again, two sides that the other half of this marriage would probably not pick as a #1 choice.
Probably too often.
The protagonist, Nick Adams, is someone that I can relate to on so many levels. He's from Michigan, he dislikes crowds of people, he's a meticulous planner, and he goes out to enjoy nature as a means of personal therapy to recover from the disappointment and hurts that happen in life. The story speaks to me like few others (if any) ever have:
Nick's heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling.
It doesn't change. trout fishing is a constant in my life. It's more than a mere fish on a line, or dinner plate. It's a way of life. It's my way of life.
--SH