Yes, I can! Three weeks ago, I learned I could grill a whole fish. It was an empowering, exhilarating experience. The process was easy, but the mental battle was harder. Those eyes, ya know? Alison’s Grilled Branzino with Lemons All of the Ways exceeded my expectations. I left that cooking experience with more confidence and an excitement for my next whole fish rendezvous. You can read all about that here!
Sadly, I wasn’t able to find any whole trout. Granted, I did only look at two stores. I’m sure I would have been able to find trout at a seafood specialty store, but I just didn’t have the energy or time to hop around. Not surprisingly, since starting my new job, I haven’t had the space to shop for more niche ingredients. But so it goes. Thankfully, Alison says you can use branzino too, which can be readily found at Whole Foods.
The process is very similar, if not identical, to the recipe I mentioned earlier. Simply season the fish with salt and pepper, and spray it with canola oil. The fish spends roughly 8 minutes per side on the grill at medium-high heat until the skin is charred and slightly puffy. Instead of lemon slices, the fish is stuffed with sprigs of thyme. At the very end, I dressed the fish with dollops of green goddess butter that melted into the skin. For details about this herby butter, see the Roasted Radishes with Green Goddess Butter recipe post.
The flavors and seasoning paired perfectly with Branzino - a relatively mild and tender white fish. If it weren’t for the fact that these two particular fish seemed to have far more bones, I may have said that I enjoyed this fish even more than the last. But I do think the two recipes are equally fit for a lovely summer dinner on the deck, and though they look fancy, they don’t require fancy skills or techniques. Alison tells you everything you need to know in order to make a successful and wow-worthy meal.
112 recipes cooked, 113 to go.
