Cookbook Club: Wild Rice Crusted Trout with Maple Blueberries
Well, April did not go as planned…so April’s cookbook club is trickling into May. THIS IS FINE.
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I ended up with a bulging disc in my upper back which led to some severe nerve and muscle pain. For the past 3+ weeks, I’ve been resting and going to physical therapy and at long last I am feeling like myself again! This does mean, however, that I completely fell behind on my Cookbook Club posts and for that, I am sorry. I hope you’ll forgive me when you hear about how lovely this recipe is.
Why did I choose this recipe?
There are so many beautiful recipes in this book that I want to share, but this simple Wild Rice Crusted Trout with Maple Blueberries encompasses the flavors that make me think of Minnesota most. The original recipe from the book uses walleye (a classic Minnesota choice) but since I didn’t have that on hand, I went with trout. The fish is dredged in wild rice flour, which is made by running wild rice through a mill or food processor (I used a food processor), creating a flavorful and surprisingly light coating.
Reading through the pages of this book inspired me to also use maple syrup, as we had just tapped the maple trees in our yard for the second year in a row. Once the fish was cooked, I used the same pan to quickly warm a handful of blueberries with a drizzle of maple syrup (I’m talking a quick 1-2 minutes) and poured the berries with the syrup and everything from the pan over the trout. The sweet-salty flavors and contrasting textures work together like they were meant to be. Which they 100% are.
What I’ve learned from this recipe:
That lesson, how ingredients from one place simply work together, is one I hope to keep in mind always. Simplicity and flavor and appreciating what the earth has to offer is an amazing gift that is overlooked too often. I hope when you check this book out from your local library or purchase it from a local bookstore that it helps you dig deeper to learn about what the land you live on can do to nourish you. And I hope you’ll share it with me in the comments or on instagram (don’t forget to tag me @setthetableblog so I see your posts).
