Recipe: Rainbow trout en papillote with black forbidden rice

Autumn has arrived. Soon we will be marking the season with the annual Nevada Day celebration, which will be observed Oct. 27. That morning and throughout the parade, our Nashville Social Club crew will be set up outside serving to-go breakfast croissant sandwiches featuring our house made maple bourbon bacon, guaranteed to make your tastebuds happy.

We would love to have you stop by, say hello and enjoy our unique and tasty fare. We will see you there. The following recipe is inspired by my passion for fishing.

Having grown up slightly over the hill in Quincy provided me with lots of great lakes, streams, and a river or two in which to fish. There was nothing like a day spent out in nature and bringing home a beautiful rainbow trout that I would prepare for dinner.

This is an ode to my childhood, I suppose, those days when salt, pepper, a twist of fresh lemon and vegetables right from the garden were the perfect complement. While rainbow trout en papillote with black forbidden rice is more complex than a simple pan fried or grilled option, I think you will find the end result worth the extra time and effort.

This was one of the featured courses at The Greenhouse Project's recent Grateful Harvest Dinner that took place at Nashville Social. With advanced notice, this is also a dish we can prepare for your visit to the restaurant.

Keep in mind that we need time to source the freshest ingredients. For this presentation, I opted to serve with the black forbidden rice, but if you prefer, any type of rice or even potatoes work too. In-season fresh vegetables are a must.

I recommend serving with a burgundy chardonnay or a sauvignon blanc – not super buttery, but something with higher acidity. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Main

1 12 to 18-inch whole rainbow trout

1 cup black forbidden rice

Stock

Trout bones and scraps

1 celery stock

1 bay leaf

5 whole peppercorns

1 head of garlic

4 ounces basil

1 white onion, quartered

2 Roma tomatoes, halved

1 leek top

1 cup white wine

1 tablespoon salt

Veggies

1 leek bottom

2 tablespoons butter

4 ounces sundried tomatoes in olive oil

1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Garnish

1 preserved lemon, sliced

6 to 7 thyme sprigs

Parchment paper, use a 16 x 24-inch sheet cut in half

Instructions

Start by filleting both sides of the rainbow trout off the bone. Then using needle nose plyers or pin bone tweezers, pull the pin bones out of the fillets. You can do this by rubbing your fingers along the fillet from head to tail to feel them sticking up.

Just gently get ahold of it and pull up at a slight angle toward the head of the fish. Salt and pepper both sides of the trout and set aside. Make sure to save all the scraps and bones for the stock.

Place the bone and scraps on a roasting tray along with the head of garlic, celery, onion and tomato and roast for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. After bones are out of the oven, add to a small stock pot with your bay leaf, peppercorns, basil, half of your thyme, leek tops and cover with two quarts of water.

Then, deglaze the roasting pan with white wine and scrape any bits that stuck to the pan and add that to your stock as well. This is call fond and its where most of your flavor for the stock will come from.

Then, bring your stock to a simmer and maintain only a simmer for 30 minutes and no longer or you will get an overly fishy taste. After stock is done, filter through a China cap with a double layer of cheese cloth and set aside.

Add your rice, stock, salt your other half of your thyme to a small saucepot. Bring ingredients to a boil and then set to low heat for approximately 10 to 12 minutes or until done. A rice cooker can also be used for this recipe.

Slice the white bottom part of the leek into 1/2-inch rounds and put into bowl with cool water and rinse/drain thoroughly. Add to a sauté pan with butter, salt and pepper and lightly sauté until tender. Turn off the heat and add the sundried tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of the oil that they are packaged in and set aside.

Cut the packet Cut the parchment paper into a large heart shape. Fold the parchment paper in half lengthwise. The half-heart should be large enough to hold the ingredients with room around the edges.

Layer the ingredients. Lay both sheets of the parchment on the counter. Add half of the rice to each in the middle. Then split the veggies and lay them over the rice. Place the trout fillet, skin side up, and then top the fillet all the way across with preserved lemons and a sprig of thyme. I like to add 2 tablespoons of the trout stock and butter to help create steam.

Fold the parchment paper in a tight pleated pattern, as you would the edge of a galette pastry, moving down the sides of the heart. Twist off the end to seal the parchment.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place parchment packets on a baking sheet. Fish fillets, which should be about 1-inch thick, will cook in as little as 10 minutes. A papillote is ready to come out of the oven when the package is puffed up and browning slightly.

Open gently so as not to disturb the hot liquids and enjoy straight from the packet.

Tony Schafer is the head chef at Nashville Social Club.