A fillet of Steelhead trout looks a lot like a fillet of salmon. Why is that? Well, because Steelhead is a fish that acts like salmon: it eats krill in the ocean and migrates from the ocean into freshwater to spawn. As a result, it has an appearance and flavor much like salmon. What’s the advantage of Steelhead trout? It’s a responsible choice with respect to sustainable fishing, is ranked as a “best choice” on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch List and is less expensive than salmon!
A Honeybell looks a lot like an orange. Why is that? Because a Honeybell is a citrus fruit hybrid cross between a Dancy tangerine and a Duncan grapefruit. It looks like a bright orange bell shaped orange. What’s the advantage of a Honeybell? It’s unbelievably sweet and is filled with juice. While it is delicious to eat, it produces so much juice and its zest is such a beautiful color, that it is a joy to cook with.
In this recipe, I put these two ingredients together and it was a lovely match. A little bright, sunshine-of-a-meal in the middle of winter.
Steelhead Trout Poached in White Wine with Honeybell Butter
Serves 2
Ingredients:
- 2 cups white wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon peppercorns
- ½ small onion, sliced into thin rings
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 Honeybell
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 fillets Steelhead trout
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
- Combine the white wine, bay leaves, peppercorns, onion slices and fresh thyme sprigs in a sauté pan. Slice half the Honeybell into slices and add the slices to the sauté pan. Bring the liquid to a simmer and simmer very gently for 10 minutes.
- While the poaching liquid is simmering, season the trout with salt and set it aside.
- Make the Honeybell butter. Zest and juice the remaining half a Honeybell and combining the zest and juice with the softened butter in a small bowl. Beat together until well mixed and season to taste with salt and pepper. Shape the butter into two flat disks or other shape and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Then gently place the fish into the sauté pan. Top the pan up with hot water so that the fish is covered. Poach, with the liquid simmering very gently, for 6 minutes, or until the fish is firm to the touch.
- Remove the fish from the pan with a spatula and plate with a piece of the Honeybell butter on top.
For more recipes using Steelhead Trout, visit my QVC recipe page here.