I CATCH A TROUT

North of the provincial capital of Cuenca (Castilla-La Mancha, central Spain) heading towards the high sierras is an idyllic region of fast-moving trout streams, mountain retreats, forested valleys, tumbling waterfalls, and an “enchanted city,” where wind and rain over several millennia have carved karstic limestone into fantasmal shapes. Hugging the rocky cliffs above the River Júcar is the village of Villalba de la Sierra.

Across the bridge and nestled in a wooded area next to the river is El Tablazo, a hotel in a converted flour mill on a small lake. Javi Alegria, fisherman and outdoorsman, runs a trout fishing concession on the lake. Here I caught my first-ever fish.

Small lake is stocked with rainbow trout. Water flows from nearby River Júcar.

“Grip the reel here and hold the line down with your finger, then swing the line out beyond those reeds, letting go of the line at the same time.” Javi Alegria gives me some basic instructions and hands me the fishing rod. The hook on the end is baited with three kernels of corn.

I cast and the line gets snagged. I do it again. And wait. Willows ring the small lake, dribbling branches in the shimmery water. I can hear the sound of the nearby river bouncing over stones. I pull the line in just a little. The float bobs, I feel a tug. Oh my goodness! I slowly reel in the line until, dangling before me, is a lovely rainbow trout. I am so excited that my shouts disturb the peaceful scene.

My first ever fish! (©Photo copyright JDDallet)

I landed two more of the beautiful fish and proudly delivered them to the kitchen of Hotel El Tablazo. My friends and I dined on our catch that evening.

Javi stocks the lake at El Tablazo with farmed fish and opens the fishing concession to guests. He weighs the catch on the way out and charges accordingly. Javi says even fly-fishermen come to the lake because they can fish year-round.

Javi Alegria at El Tablazo Hotel and Restaurant (©Photo copyright JDDallet)

Just a few meters from the hotel, on the River Júcar, Javi fly-fishes for wild trout, sin muerte, catch and release. After the thrill of landing the trout, with no barb on the hook, it is released unscathed. Not dinner. He shows me his selection of nymphs and dry flies.

In bygone days trout was everyday fare in the cooking of Castilla-La Mancha. Every mill-run was a source of trout. In the River Tajo in Toledo, trout was so abundant that it was pickled in escabeche. Now trout that appears at the market or in restaurants is always farmed rainbow trout. That’s what I buy at a local market.

Fresh trout doesn’t need much gussying up. I usually wrap the whole, gutted fish in a thin slice of serrano ham, dredge it in flour or corn meal and fry until skin is crisp. I love eating that crisp skin.

But, if you have a good source and can enjoy trout frequently, it’s great to have a few variations on the tried and true. Javi at El Tablazo gave me a recipe for stuffing a big trout (2 ¼- pounder) with pine nuts, bacon and smoked salmon. Here’s another recipe, using individually-sized trout with a mushroom stuffing

Trout are filleted and filled with mushroom-ham stuffing.

These are individually-sized trout, weighing about 3/4 pound whole.

Trout can be skinned and tiny bones removed. Serve the stuffing on the side.

Trout Stuffed with Ham and Mushrooms
Truchas Rellenas con Jamón y Setas

Crispy skin, moist flesh, savory stuffing.

Use wild or cultivated mushrooms for the stuffing.

Serves 4. 

Farmed trout, center spines removed. Fish still has fine pin bones.

4 trout, each about 12 ounces, filleted (8 fillets)
Salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup chopped shallots
1 cup chopped mushrooms (about 3 ounces)
2 ounces chopped serrano ham or bacon
Pinch of thyme
1 cup white wine, divided
¼ cup fresh breadcrumbs
Flour for dredging fish
Olive oil for frying
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Toasted almonds

Sprinkle the fillets with salt and let stand while preparing the stuffing.

Heat the oil in a small skillet. Add the shallots and sauté 2 minutes on a medium heat. Add the mushrooms and ham and sauté 5 minutes. Add the thyme and ¼ cup of the wine and cook until liquid is evaporated. Stir in the breadcrumbs. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Spread the mushroom mixture on each of four trout fillets. Top with another fillet, pressing gently to close. (The fillets can be tied with kitchen twine, although, with care, they will hold together pretty well without tying.) 

Sandwich stuffing between two fillets. Dredge in flour.

Dredge the trout in flour, patting off excess. Heat the oil to a depth of ¼ inch in a heavy skillet. Fry the trout, in two batches, if necessary, on medium heat until browned, about 4 minutes. Turn and cook about 4 minutes more. Remove to a serving platter and keep warm.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of oil from the skillet. Add the lemon juice and remaining ¾ cup wine. Boil 3 minutes until reduced by half. Add the parsley to the sauce and pour over the fish. Scatter toasted almonds on top.

(Photo courtesy of El Tablazo, used with permission.)

Hotel El Tablazo (Villalba de la Sierra, Cuenca) in a converted flour mill, has a lovely terrace by a bubbling brook and a restaurant with superb renditions of traditional food (such as morteruelo, a ragout of game). Nearby is Villalba de la Sierra, a village that’s hardly emerged from another century. Shopkeepers lean in doorways and old folk sit in the sun in the plaza against a backdrop of white-washed walls.  http://www.hoteltablazo.com/

Another trout recipe is here.

HAM, THE BOOK

Whole Hog (Ibérico, Dehesa de Extremadura)

When I was reporting for an article about Spanish ibérico ham from 5J in Jabugo (read the story in the Los Angeles Times here), I was sniffing about for recipes with ham and listening for Americans’ experience with Spanish ham. I called up my main “ham man,” Miguel Ullibarri, formerly director of the Real Ibérico consortium and now with A Taste of Spain, a tour company specializing in food and wine tours. He told me about Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, authors of Ham—An Obsession with the Hindquarter (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, March, 2010), who were planning to escort a grand ham tour to Spain. (Sorry to report, the tour is off for spring 2011. Stay tuned for future tour dates.)

Mark and Bruce, who live in Colebrook, CT., got involved with Spanish hams while researching a chapter in their book about dry-cured hams in Europe. Mark is the writer and Bruce the chef and recipe developer. Through Miguel Ullibarri the authors got in touch with Fermin, the sole exporter of ibérico hams to the U.S.

“That’s who provided the ibérico ham that graces the cover of the book,” said Mark. “For months after the photo shoot for HAM, Bruce and I lived in bellota bliss (bellotas are acorns--what the pigs fatten on). We would get invited to dinner parties and bring the whole leg, shave off a pound or so, and be piggy with abandon. When we got the thing down to the bone, we cooked it with a pot of beans, cracked open a bottle of rosé cava, and moved on to the sequel to ham, the first-ever all-goat (meat, milk, cheese) book in English” (slated for publication April 2011).

SAMPLING THE HAM BOOK

HAM, the book, presents a global look at porky hindquarters, with chapters covering Fresh Ham, Dry-Cured Ham in the Old World, Dry-Cured Ham in the New World and Wet-Cured Ham. Recipes run the gamut from appetizers to soup to main dishes to leftovers. There are some tempting recipes for Chinese stir-fry, Italian-style pizza, down-home southern country stews and chic salads (smoked ham with arugula, pears and honey vinaigrette, for instance), all with tips and Testers’ Notes. Naturally, I gravitated to the recipes with Spanish ham (serrano, as ibérico is too good to use in cooking). The Serrano-Wrapped Scallops, Serrano Fritters and Stewed Mussels with Jamón Serrano, Chickpeas and Saffron all sound enticing. But I decided on trout stuffed with ham, a recipe somewhat like a traditional way with trout in Navarra.  

(Photo in my kitchen in Spain is by Donna Ellefson)

Whole Trout Stuffed with Jamón Serrano, Rosemary, and Fennel Seeds
Recipe adapted from HAM An Obsession with The Hindquarter, 

by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough: Photographs by Marcus Nilsson

(Stewart, Tabori & Chang; 2010).

The recipe in the book calls for 4 (1-pound) trout. Trout at my market are considerably smaller, so I chose to use a larger salmon-trout, which weighed in at about 1 ¾ pounds after boning, serving 3. Although the recipe doesn’t mention removing pin bones for the individual-sized trout, I decided to do this to facilitate dividing the cooked fish into crosswise slices.  I chose to use needle and thread to sew up the fish’s cavity in order to make it easier to turn the fish without losing the stuffing. And, because I like fresh thyme more than rosemary, I substituted my favored herb. The fennel seeds lend a subtle Pernod-y taste, just right with the ham. Deglazing the pan with Sherry vinegar creates an instant and very delicious pan sauce. 

While shopping, without thinking about it too much, I picked up a Rueda wine, a white made of verdejo grapes (Pentio, 2009). The fruitiness of verdejo, I thought, would complement the ham in the stuffing. It was only later, reviewing the recipe in HAM, that I noticed that the recipe’s headnotes state, “Fast, easy and elegant, this company supper cries out for a bottle of Spanish white from the Rueda region.” Ah so. Perfect, indeed.

1 whole salmon trout (about 2 ¼ 

     pounds), boned
¼ cup fresh bread crumbs
3 ounces thinly sliced serrano ham,

     minced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon rosemary or thyme,

     minced
2 tablespoons white wine
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar

Preheat the oven to 450ºF.

Mix the bread crumbs, ham, garlic, fennel seeds and rosemary or thyme in a medium bowl. Add just enought wine to moisten the mixture, but not enough to make it wet.

Open up the salmon-trout and spread the stuffing mixture on one side, patting it into place. Flap it closed. (You can use needle and thread to sew up the cavity opening.)

Heat the oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat, adding the oil. Slip the trout into the skillet and cook until crisp, about 7 minutes, shaking the skillet occasionally so the trout doesn’t stick.

Use a large spatula to turn the trout, then shove the whole contraption in the oven. Bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Remove the very hot skillet from the oven and use that large spatula (or two) to transfer the trout to a heated serving platter.

Set the skillet back over medium heat and splash in the vinegar. Stir quickly to scrape up any stuff on the bottom of the skillet, then drizzle this sauce over the trout.

Mark Scarbrough blogs, with taste and humor, about his favorite foods at http://www.realfoodhascurves.com
Book your tour to ham country with Miguel Ullibarri at http://www.atasteofspain.com/

Hams on the hoof.