Give a man a fish......
.....and he can make a decent small bite to eat. Give a man three fish and he can make a pretty mean meal for unexpected friends who drop by.
I had plans to make a quick trout dinner before w and I went to the Mississippi Pizza Pub to see our friend Andrew Field play some music. Never having roasted a whole fish, I planned ahead and picked up one extra of our scaly meal-to-be in case things went off the tracks and I needed a backup up plan. Then came a late call from my friend Amy Ruppel, asking if we were going to see Andrew and if we would want to have a drink before hand with she and her hubby Randall. Not wanting to pass up the chance to hang with two of my favorite people and since I live a mere three blocks from the Pizza venue, it only made sense to have them come by for a quick pre-show drink and snack. Out came plan B in the guise of fish 3, some quick prep on he and his two piscene brothers, in this case a few well placed knife slashes on both sides of the fish, a rub of olive oil and a sprinkling of S&P, some fresh thyme and lemon stuffed inside, 15 minutes in a 475 oven with some thin sliced russet potatoes (also w/olive oil and S&P), a deliciously crisp bottle of 2004 J. Christopher "Zoot Allures" Blanc, and voila.......
......an incredibly satisfying, clean, fresh, and best of all super easy-to-make nibble to send us out onto the street with four very happy tummies!