Passport to Texas

Sea Trout Meuniere; photo by Ken Haenel

Preparing Sea Trout Meunière Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Anglers who catch and keep their fish can fill their freezers with nearly free food. That’s what chef and angler Cindy Haenel does.

We don’t let them go unless they’re undersized…we just have so much in the freezer, so we do limit ourselves on how much we keep. But, yeah, we just love them. They’re so tasty. So, we don’t want to throw them back. (laughs).

I met Cindy when she was a chef instructor at Central Market. She’s since retired. But not from fishing or home cooking. I stopped by her place at lunchtime awhile back, just as she was preparing Seatrout…

Meunière style, which is basically lemon and butter with some parsley at the end.

Seasoned trout fillets, dusted with flour, went into a hot non-stick skillet coated with melted butter. After three minutes per side, she transferred the cooked fillets to warm plate which she placed in the oven to keep warm, and then made a quick and delicious sauce with lemon juice, lemon zest, white wine, parsley…and more butter.

Okay. So, now I’m going to taste. Mm…a good amount of lemon. Slide it on off of the fire, and then whisk in that last pat of butter just to thicken up the sauce. Okay. Dump in the parsley. So, taste again—just use a different finger each time for tasting. Oh yeah. Okay that’s it. We’re ready to plate and serve.

Hear the full cooking experience on our podcast Under the Texas Sky, and find a copy of Cindy’s recipe for Seatrout meunière at underthetexassky.org.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Trout Meuniere Recipe

A flavorful reimagining of the classic French Sole Meunière that’s simple to prepare and yet decadently rich.

Ingredients
• Spotted Sea Trout fillets (flounder or sand dabs also work well) – 4 fillets
• Salt and pepper
• All-purpose flour (for dusting) *may use gluten free flour
• Cultured unsalted butter – 3 tablespoons *may use more as needed
• Shallot (minced about 1 tablespoon) – 0.5 small
• Dry white wine (such as sauvignon blanc) – 2 tablespoons
• Lemon zest – 1/2 teaspoon
• Lemon juice, freshly squeezed – 1 tablespoon
• Flat-leaf parsley (for garnish)

Steps
1. Turn on oven to lowest setting.
2. Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Generously salt and pepper both sides of the fillet and then lightly dust all surfaces of the fish with flour.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter to a non-stick skillet and heat over medium heat until the pan is hot, and the butter has melted.
4. Add the fillets and fry on one side until cooked about half way through (the cooked part will appear opaque if you look at the side of the fillet). Carefully flip using two spatulas and fry until cooked through. Transfer the cooked fish to an oven-safe plate and place in warm oven while you make the sauce.
5. To make the Meunière sauce, add the shallots to the butter in the skillet. Fry until the shallots are tender and just starting to brown.
6. Add the white wine and simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Finish the sauce by whisking in the lemon juice and zest along with the last tablespoon of butter.
7. Pour the Meunière sauce over the fish. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.