Poached trout with shaved asparagus and miso butter sauce
With the early arrival of spring, here is a simple recipe that marries the fresh clean flavors of locally caught trout with shaved asaparagus and asparagus tips. Trout can be poached in minutes and is delicious perched on a bed of buttered asparagus with a drizzle of miso butter sauce. Look for local asparagus at Greig Farm, the Berry Farm, the Chatham Co-op and the Carrot Barn in Schoharie.
Steamed asparagus
- 1 small bunch asparagus
- 1/4 cup poaching liquid reserved from the poached sea bream recipe (below), or water
- 1 tablespoon butter
- Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Bend the asparagus until the woody ends snap off. Remove the tips. Shave the stalks into strips with a peeler. Heat a sauté pan over high heat. Add the shaved asparagus and tips, reserved poaching liquid (or water), butter, and a dash of salt and cracked black pepper. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and steam the asparagus for one minute.
Miso butter sauce
- 1 cup wine
- 1/4 cup cream
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon South River sweet white miso
- 1/2 teaspoon Wan Ja Shan soy sauce
Heat a sauté pan over high heat. Add the wine and reduce until it has almost completely evaporated and only a few tablespoons remain. Add the cream and continue simmering until the reduction is thick and bubbly. Add the sugar, soy, a dash of white pepper and a few cubes of butter. Whisk the sauce over very low heat until the butter has just melted. Continue whisking the butter a few cubes at a time into the sauce until it has all been incorporated. Keep the sauce in a warm place until you are ready to serve.
An important note:
As you make the sauce it may be necessary to intermittently remove the pan from the heat to prevent the sauce from becoming too hot. The goal is to heat the sauce just enough to melt the butter. If the sauce gets too hot the butter will separate from the cream/wine reduction.
Poached trout
By Published: August 28, 2016
- Yield: 4 Servings
- Prep: 10 mins
- Cook: 3 mins
- Ready In: 13 mins
Poaching is a simple and healthy way to preserve the clean flavors of locally caught trout
Ingredients
- 2 fillets locally caught trout
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup dry white wine Milbrook Chardonnay is a nice choice
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 sprig thyme
- 4 peppercorns
- 1 shallot peeled and sliced
Instructions
- Cut the fillets in half lengthwise.
- Simmer the water, wine, salt, shallots and herbs in a large sauté pan for five minutes.
- Reduce the heat under the pan to low. Add the trout, skin side down, and cover the pan.
- Poach the trout for 2-3 minutes until the fillets are just cooked through.
- Serve the fillets with steamed asparagus and miso butter sauce.