Trout on the line

Virginia contains over 2,800 miles of trout streams. I love to fish and hope to get out soon, but in the meantime, we're very lucky in Charlottesville to have fish markets that carry freshly caught trout.

Last night, I took the two trout fillets I picked up at West Main Market, dredged them in whole wheat flour, wetted them in a wash of milk and an egg white, then breaded them with the mixture below. Two minutes each side in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil with a dash of sesame oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat for trout No. 1, who then went into a 170-degree oven to keep warm while I repeated the process, with one minute more each side for trout No. 2. I served them with a sauce made of 2 tablespoons of low-fat mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons of peach puree (OK, it was peach baby food) and a half teaspoon of habanero pepper sauce. What a delight of crunchy and tender, a perfect white fish (when cooked; it was a delicate pink when raw) with a coating and sauce that packed a punch.

Spicy, crusty trout for two

Ingredients
1/2 cup of whole wheat croissant crumbs (or panko crumbs, or corn flakes)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 cup dry roasted almonds
1 heaping teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions
Whirl in food processor until fine. Enough to bread two trout.

Adapted from a recipe in "Cooking Fearlessly" by Jeff Blank, Jay Moore and Deborah Harter.