Grilled Trout with Green Goddess Butter (A Whole Fish! Yes, You Can!) by Alison Roman

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.

Roasted Radishes with Green Goddess Butter by Alison Roman

One of the very first recipes I ever made for this project was Alison’s Butter-Tossed Radishes with Fresh Za’atar, and it blew my mind. I’d never eaten a whole radish before, much less found myself craving one. I even learned about Za’atar. I’ll always think fondly of those radishes, because they signified a new and exciting chapter in my quarantine life. One where I invested in my creative interests and believed in my own growth and flourishing. 

When I saw this roasted radish recipe, I couldn’t help but reflect on how this all began and what this project means to me. We’re about at the halfway point, both with the recipe count and the calendar. I have until January 27 to complete the 225th recipe. So far, I’ve had the most wonderful time. At the beginning, I made the conscious choice to let this be about having fun, about enjoying food and savoring writing. I decided that I wouldn’t let any to-do-list-checking or feelings of self-consciousness get in the way. I’ve grown immensely in my knowledge of food and my confidence in cooking. At the start, I questioned the notion of serving a plateful of radishes. Now, I see a plateful of radishes and my mouth starts to water. In addition to my confidence in cooking, my taste buds have grown too… I know you came here for the radishes, so thanks for letting me do a bit of reflection. We can turn to that irresistible Green Goddess Butter now…  

If you’ve ever had Green Goddess salad dressing, this is its fabulously spreadable cousin in butter form. And it’s so easy to make. Alison gives the option to mash all of the ingredients together with a fork. But after just a few moments of smashing, I decided to opt for my food processor, which was much more equipped to handle the ingredients. Speaking of which, this butter consists of fresh herbs – chives, parsley, and tarragon, garlic, anchovies, and white wine vinegar. The recipe creates about twice as much as needed. Which is why I chose to follow Alison’s advice and pair this with her Grilled Trout with Green Goddess Butter. 

The radishes are oven-roasted until tender, and the leaves are crisp. This was my second time purchasing and cooking with a bunch of radishes (as opposed to pre-cleaned and trimmed ones). As a heads up, both bunches required extensive cleaning. I could feel the grains of dirt covering the leaves, and it took some work to clean each one thoroughly. Once the radishes were roasted, I plated them on top of the butter, and sprinkled them with lemon juice and salt. They were a tasty (and aesthetically pleasing) side for the fish!

111 recipes cooked, 114 to go.