Got a Backcountry Trout Recipe?

“I'm about to embark on my first solo BP trip on 2nd half of JMT... and thanks to Mel, I have all kinds of places to try my luck with the trout. Got pole (4 pc.), spoons & spinners, and all in somewhat minimalist style.

I suddenly realized, however, that if I DO catch a dinner or two, I didn't consider how I'd prepare it. While an offer of a recipe or two is also nice, I'm really looking for suggestions on how best to prepare trout, when all I have is a Ti 1/2 litre pot!

I have a 7" teflon pan I could take, sans handle, but I expect to catch something a bit larger than that... anyone have suggestions that would include compact and lightweight ideas? Or do I just cut the damn thing in half?”

“The only suggestion I have is to just get a small cat iron fry pan. It may be a little heavy, but it'll work great. Also bring some breadding and shortening.”

“Take some peanut or olive oil in a small bottle all you need is a table spoon or two, filet the fish & fry it in the oil & your trail spice, take the pan with the fish gunk still in it & prepare your self a Lipton?s mushroom rice ricepy (SP) in the dirty pan. Add your trail spice, (I use Spike or my own mixture of salt, gallic powder, onion powder & a bit of dried mustard & a little pinch of ginger powder) While cooking the ricepy I will toss in a handful of dehydrated peas & corn. (Dehydrated corn & peas are available at REI or you can save some money by making your own) you can also add some wild mushrooms if you know what which ones to eat, just toss them in during the boiling the water stage of the ricepy. Ricepy?s do need a at least a 1 qt pan. That?s my two cents.”

“Eat dat sombitch gills n all.”

“I rely on mountain trout regularly...here are two methods:

1. make a fire. create a coal-bed. wrap gutted, not filleted trout with a tablespoon of butter, salt, ground pepper, sliced fresh shallots (onion variation, delicious), a few dried jalepeno peppers, raisins (this contrasts sweet with onions and pepper). Use heavy duty al foil found in any grocery store. Lay on coals and time 20 to 30 minutes, depending on coals and fish size. Time from the time it starts puffing up (which may or may not be quite soon). If you are careful, you can literally eat outta the foil package. While this is going, you can prepare some rice or some carb to go with.

Fire Method #2 (FAVORITE): create coalbed or just use flames, find a flat plank of wood (usually a dead, fallen tree shatters and rots, but it dries too. Peel off a plank, about 6 foot. Place trout (filleted or just gutted) on one plank end and position reasonably over fire...reasonably high so it doesn't catch too soon. Use al foil hood to circulate heat rising above top half. Smoked Trout! Add stuff to taste.

SKILLET: Filleted trout here...I agree with the above, bring butter and/or olive oil, just a bit. But add the tasty variety of spices/flavorings mentioned above. Cover and fry, but not too fast. Trout have oily, scaleless (!!! DOn't Scale!) skin that can burn quickly if you crank it, leaving the meat undercooked.

Finally, just gut the trout...cut the heads off but leave the pectoral and anal and other fins alone...these are tasty when cooked to the point of brittleness (which the above methods should do). Be careful of bones. A trout that is left unfilleted (simply gutted) can be de-boned easily! Whence cooked (haven't used that word for a while), you can fork-lift the top meat, feeling for the spine...remove to dinner plate. Then pull gently and evenly on the exposed spine (which will include rib cage) and the fine bones will follow. BUT CHEW CAREFULLY. Bones supply calcium and are good for you.

bye...sorry so much.”

“Ray - that was just what I was looking for - not just a recipe, but a method of preparing trout in the backcountry that was easy and practical. I'm packing some foil!

Are there any more?”

“Dunk and Nomad?s High Sierra Curry Trout

Take one pristine golden trout freshly caught from a high alpine lake and start him to fryin? in the pan. Now, add about five table spoons of curry or until your eyes start to burn. Now, taste the trout?if you have to spit it right back in the pan it?s done. Enjoy!

Yuck, yuck!”

“I do it a lot like ray, except I skin my fish first and use about a third of a package of lipton onion soup mix in each foil pack. Salt and pepper to taste, with a bit of butter and a twist of lemon. I don`t cook it as long as he does, but each to his own. Instead of the onion mix, I sometimes use a chicken flavored bouillon cube crushed up and rubed on the fish. Both are good.

I like `em smoked too, but it`s hard to find zig zag papers that big.”

“Trout is so good it doesn't need much help. If you catch a big fish you can make it small by cutting it in chunks so it will fit in your small pan. Steam it with a little water and a lid. Bone it as per instructions above. Fix rice or hashbrowns or whatever. Reheat the fish for a few seconds and serve.”

“Big Foot, those mixes sound great! I will definitely pack some soup mix and give it a try. As far as smoking that trout-spliff, will let you know when I figure it out...I will of course.

MaryPhyl, good call on steaking bigger fish.

A good, light side dish (starches) is dehydrated potato flakes (Potato Buds). Just boil water, dump them in, add butter (real sweet cream butter), s&p, and some powdered milk to add creaminess. That pot can sit and hold its heat for a long time.

later on...”

“ray,
It sounds like you`re a good cook. I like trail food that tastes like home cooked. I hope to share a fire with you one day.”

“ray,
Just like you, I like `em best with fresh things cooked in, but I was thinking about weight. The way I do it, they taste almost as good and you don`t have to worry about it staying fresh. Also, if you don`t catch anything you can have a hot cup of soup. If you have a clean can, or a pan, you can use the other part of that soup mix and a bit of flower, with water and stur it up and make a thick sause to smother your fish in.
It`s better that way, but I don`t take many extras with me. If I take a pan it has to have other uses. Your starch idea would be a good one. If it`s cold you need starches and hot food.”

“I am saddened that my wisdom and expertise was not called upon in this endeavor. I am not one to hold a grudge, however. Here is a fine recipe for your problem!

Baked Trout Tongues
Makes enough to feed one man or three cats.

1 lb trout tongues (better hope the fishings good!)
Cracker crumbs
2 small Onions
3 tbl Butter
Milk to cover
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Savory
Pepper to taste

Wash and dry trout tongues. Put layer of tongues in a buttered 8" casserole; cover with cracker crumbs, sliced onions, salt, pepper, and savory; dot with butter. Add another layer of tongues and continue until all are used. Have a layer of crumbs on top. Dot with butter, cover with milk. Bake over campfire until tongues are cooked. (About 1 1/4 hours). Oh, so yumblilicious!”

“I used the method the MaryPhyl talks about resently on some cutthroat and my sweetie and I couldn't believe how good it was. We of course used a few of our favorite friend...garlic and lime juice.”

“I hesitate to disagree with such an established Gormet, but an hour and 15 minutes is a little longer than I normally bake my trout tounges. I say fifty minutes tops.”

“You say to-may-toe and I say to-mah-toe. It's all I can do to keep from eating them raw!”

“frrrrrrEEEEEEEEEEEEAAK!!!”

“Raddy, U suck.

Snackboy is really my favorite poster.”

“OK, OK... I get the picture... but I had hoped I could keep you all - my comrades in backpacking arms - on point. And that is, I will be in the middle of nowhere, people, and carrying a pack I have pared down a dozen times already. Simplicity and light weight are the theme here (see original post). The weight of fresh vegetables just ain't enough to convince me it's worth carrying... unless YOU'RE going WITH me...

Now, I have garnered some great recipes for those times when the aforementioned parameters are of lesser consequence, but technique is critical. Using AL foil and some choice spices, I can enjoy a great meal or two. Cutting trout in pieces to fit my pan will do, and frankly, it's a practical solution I most likely may use. But I really like the foil idea. I wonder... is it worth treating the inside surface ahead of time, with one of those spray, seasoned oils, like PAM or something? Add favorite spices (they'll stick to the surface), then, just fold it up into small sixe, unfold when ready for use, and drop trout in! What do you think?

Sure am glad I didn't ask for a chili recipe!”

“Catch, Gut,wRAP IN FOIL WITH Olive oil,remove, EAT! Works for me! yo mmmmmm!”

“Obi,

The pre-spray may be the best idea. Fish will stick to foil, because you can't preheat it like a pan with oil. Bring plenty of salt, I ran out last time I caught a mess of fish.”

“Snackboy's Yumbly Chili

2 tb Oil
2 lb Chili meat
1 lg Onion, chopped med.
2 cl Garlic, minced
2 ts Cumin
2 tb Chili powder
3 c Canned tomatoes, w/joice
Beer (the more the better)
Salt/pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add meat, onion and garlic, cook until browned. Add cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and stir to blend. Coarsely chop tomatoes and add to meat with the juice. Stir in beer.
Have one for yourself.

Simmer over low heat, uncovered for 1-2 hours, adding more beer or water as necessary. Have another for yourself.

Serve with beer. Yumblilicious!!”

“Who's joice? That must be how you say juice in Joisey? HeeHeeHoHo!”

“where's the masa flour?!?!? i thought you knew how to cook!”

“Here your flour, sir!

http://www.shortmill.com/prod11.htm”

“thanks! beer and masa make it thick and hearty!”

“You like hearty?

Baked Beef Heart

Take out the strings from the inside. Some cut the heart open, but I prefer to leave it whole. Wash it well; rub the inside with salt and pepper. Fill it with a stuffing made of bread and butter moistened with a little water. Season with salt and pepper, and if like a sprig of thyme made fine. Sew up the opening as well as you can by drawing cords across. Rub the outside with salt and pepper, put in some bits of butter, then dredge flour over it, and set on a trivet or muffin rings in a dripping pan. Put in a pint of water to baste with, then roast in a hot oven. Turn and baste frequently. The time to roast depends on the size of the heart. When done take it out. Cut a lemon in thick slices, put in the pan with a bit of butter dredged in a teaspoonful of flour. Let it brown, then add a small teacupful of boiling water. Stir it smooth and serve in a gravy tureen. EEK!”

“we used to use cow hearts to color sausage.”

“Jack-- Thanks for the garlic and lime juice. We use that all the time in Mexico on the shrimp. The lime is great on fresh pineapple too although I can't think how to take that packin.”

“I did a search for Trout recipes in the backcountry, and lo, but did I find one I ALREADY POSTED... in August of 2000!!!!

There must be some new ones out there, people...

What's your fav for the light-weight hiker?”

“prosecutor has GOT to chime in on this one.”

“Lightweight?
About one linear foot of foil and a pinch of salt per fish. Wrap gutted, headless, salted fish in foil and lay on coals. After forty to forty five frequent finger flexes, flip fish fins first forward for four feet - err... inches, or until it is rolled over on it's other side - still on the coals. Let cook on that side for a minute or two. Peel off foil (this will remove the skin). Enjoy!

Salt's all I season with. The fishy juices are flavorful enough for me.”

“That sounds deee-lish, gojo. Gotta try that, when I'm not in bear country, and have a place to dispose of the used foils.

Along the JMT, for example, that could create a problem, since the odor of the fish would attract various wildlife's whose nature it would be to find the source at all costs!

No place to pitch the used foil, either, so would have to carry it... pack it... smell it on everything it was packed with...

Not good.

I wonder... would my mini-fry pan fit inside my Bearikade? The foil certainly would, and it IS a bear can after all...

Duh...

Problem Solved.”

“I too use the foil method. But kick it up a knotch. Thin sliced onions,thin sliced lemons, And garlic. Add a tad of olive oil. Seal up the pouch and let the trout poach! Burn the foil off. Pack it out. I don eat where is sleep! Works for me! Yo bear!”

“Wow, sounds good. In Atlanta I got lots of savoury chicken wings, but totally missed out on backcountry trout.”

“Trout is AWESOME! And espically good in the backcountry.Yo bear!”

“espically good in the backcountry

Darn tootin! After several days of Ramen Noodles and Milkbone dog biscuits, even my above simple technique is orgasmic.

"Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity."
~Thoreau”

“How about Trout-on-a-Stick?”

“I use foil but I put some butter buds and lemon pepper in it before I cook them.”

“Yes, trout in general is all good! Jerbear!”

“Cut from anus to the gill area, but not all the way to the mouth. Slice skin under the chin, put thumb in mouth, and pull the lower jaw bone away from the fish. The gills and guts will come with the jaw bone.

Clean out the blood around the spine, washing in water.

Heat oil in fry pan, and add gutted fish. Take a small container of lemon pepper, sprinkle on skin. After a few minutes, flip fish over, and fry other side. If you fry in pan, take a spatula and extra fuel. I thought wood fires were banned in most of the Sierra. No?”

“Generally banned above 9K feet or so, I believe...”