Poached Trout

I cooked this for the main course for the birthday dinner party I organised at the end of last week.  Its pretty simple and quick to cook.  I used a fish kettle, but a large flat bottomed pan, big enough to fit the whole trout in, would do the job.  The advantage of a fish kettle is it is much easier to lift the fish out and slide them onto a serving plate without breakage when cooked.

Ingredients
Fresh whole trout (rainbow or brown)-one per person
Onion
bay leaves
Sprig of fresh oregano
about 10 juniper berries
a good splosh of dry white wine
water

First I made a stock by putting the chopped onions, herbs, wine and water into the fish kettle, and simmered for about half an hour.  Then I left it for the flavours to steep into the stock.

I put the trout onto the rack inside the fish kettle to steam just as we were sitting down to eat our starter, as it takes 15 minutes or so to steam.  The liquid should come up to the level of the fish but not cover it.  Cooking time depends on how big the fish are, and how many are in the pan.  It is ready when the flesh is still firm-ish but easily comes away from the central bone when gently sliced into with a knife.

I served this with caper mayonnaise, new potatoes with mint, and braised fennel.