Filleted Trout with Macadamia Nuts & Fried Capers

Submitted by carriek38

Pan-sauteed trout fillets with toasted macadamia nuts, a white wine cream pan sauce, and crispy deep-fried capers. A restaurant-caliber fish dish ready in 30 minutes.

YIELD

2 servings

PREP

15 min

COOK

15 min

READY

30 min

This is restaurant cooking brought home. Butter-sautéed trout fillets get topped with toasted macadamia nuts, drizzled with a quick white wine cream sauce, and garnished with deep-fried capers that pop and crunch against the delicate fish. Three textures, three flavor layers, all in one elegant plate.

The trout cooks fast. Three minutes on the first side, covered briefly, then finished on the second side for a total of 6-7 minutes. Overcooking trout turns it dry and chalky, so pull it while the flesh is still just opaque and flaky.

Toasting the macadamias in the same butter the fish cooked in gives them a brown-butter flavor that plain toasted nuts lack. They go right over the plated fillets.

The pan sauce is built in seconds: a splash of white wine to deglaze, fish stock, cream, a whisper of tomato paste for color and depth, and a knob of butter. It reduces into a glossy, concentrated sauce that’s spooned over sparingly.

Fried capers are the showstopper. Lowered into almost-smoking oil for just a few seconds, they open up like tiny flowers and turn crispy and intensely salty.

Chef Tips

Drain the capers well before frying. Water in hot oil causes dangerous splattering.
Use a small strainer to lower capers into the oil and retrieve them. A slotted spoon loses them.
The tomato paste should be barely noticeable. An ⅛ teaspoon tints the sauce and adds background sweetness without making it taste like tomato.
Serve immediately. Fried capers lose their crunch within minutes and the trout dries out as it waits.

Variations

Almond version: Replace macadamia nuts with sliced almonds for a classic trout amandine variation.
Lemon butter: Skip the cream and finish with lemon juice and extra butter for a lighter, brighter sauce.

Ingredients

TABLESPOONS BUTTER

SPLASH WHITE WINE
dry *

EACH TROUT
filleted *

CUP FISH STOCK
or half clam juice, half water

SALT AND BLACK PEPPER
to taste *

CUP MACADAMIA NUTS *

TABLESPOONS HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM

VEGETABLE OIL
for deep frying, to taste *

⅛

TEASPOON TOMATO SAUCE

TABLESPOONS CAPERS

Directions

In a skillet large enough to hold the fillets melt about 3 tablespoons butter and, when almost sizzling, add trout.

Sauté on one side for about 3-minutes, turn, cover for a minute, and then sauté the other side.

A total of 6 to 7 minutes should do it.

Salt and pepper the fish and remove to a warm place, add nuts for a moment to the pan to toast, then toss over the trout fillets.

Meanwhile, in a separate small, sturdy pan, heat enough oil so that a small strainer can be lowered into it.

Let capers drain in the strainer.

Returning to the trout pan, splash in tablespoon or two of wine, then add stock and cream and boil down rapidly, stirring in just a taste of the tomato paste and a little more butter.

When reduced and slightly thickened, spoon this little bit of pan sauce over the fillets.

Now quickly lower the capers into the almost smoking oil.

Let them sputter and sizzle a few seconds, then remove the strainer and shake free of oil.

Distribute fried capers in neat piles at either end of the fillets and serve immediately.

* not incl. in nutrient facts

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