Taste of the Wild: Whole Grilled Trout with Blood Orange and Fennel

Recipe by Chef Linda Ly 

Grilling an entire fish – head and all – may seem intimidating, but it’s actually much more forgiving than trying to wrangle a delicate fillet on a grate. The high heat of a grill develops a deep brown crust on the skin, which helps the fish release easily from the grate. A trout, in particular, cooks quickly on the grill, and you can almost be assured that by the time the fish forms a crust on both sides, it’s done. The flesh stays tender and moist, and the orange and fennel infuse it with a mildly sweet flavor that doesn’t overwhelm the final dish.

Ingredients

4 blood oranges, thinly sliced

4 (14-ounce) whole trout, butterflied and deboned

Kosher salt

Ground black pepper

1 bunch fresh thyme

1⁄2 fennel bulb, quartered, cored, thinly sliced, fronds reserved

Olive oil cooking spray, for preparing the trout

Directions

Prepare a medium-hot single-level fire in a fire pit or charcoal grill with a grill grate over the coals.

Cut half the orange slices into half-moons and reserve the orange rounds for topping the trout.

Pat the trout dry with paper towels and season the fish inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff each trout with two thyme sprigs, one-fourth of the fennel slices, and one-fourth of the orange half-moons. Layer two thyme sprigs and three orange rounds on top. Tie a long length of kitchen twine around each trout to secure the fixings. Lightly mist both sides with cooking spray.

Arrange the trout, orange side up, on the grate over direct heat. Grill for about 5 minutes, until the flesh releases easily when you roll it over with a spatula. Flip and grill for about 5 minutes more, until the trout releases easily on the other side. Garnish with a few fennel fronds before serving.

About the chef

Linda Ly is the author of several bestselling cookbooks, including “The Backyard Fire Cookbook.” Her expertise in edible gardening and her penchant for crushing common food myths is a cornerstone of her popular blog, found at gardenbetty.com. Her site has an emphasis on teaching you how to maximize your garden bounty and to preserve the harvest. Ly is an outdoor enthusiast who resides in central Oregon with her family. Additional cookbooks include the highly acclaimed “The New Camp Cookbook,” as well as “The Backyard Fire Cookbook” and “The No-Waste Vegetable Cookbook.” Follow Garden Betty on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.