Title: Kennet Fried Trout
Categories: Seafood
Yield: 2 Servings

2	sm	Trout, (6-8 oz each)
2		Rashers streaky bacon
1	tb	(heaped) coarse oatmeal
2	oz	Unsalted or clarified butter
1		Lemon
		A little plain flour

Rub the skins of the cleaned and dried trout very gently with a good grinding of pepper - this makes the rich skin deliciously piquant when crisply fried - then dust lightly with flour and salt. Warm a frying pan large enough to take the two fish. Toast the oatmeal in it, or, for a richer dish, fry it. Remove and reserve. Cut the bacon into snippets; fry gently until the fat runs, then increase heat to crisp the bacon a little. Remove and keep hot. Dice the butter and add 1-1/2 oz of it to the pan. When the butter foam dies down add the fish. Press them down lightly to ensure they lie very flat, touching the pan base everywhere. After 4-5 minutes steady cooking in the bubbling butter, the skin on the underside of the fish should be crisp and golden brown. Turn them carefully and fry on the second side in the same way. Put the cooked fish on to warmed plates, scatter the bacon and oatmeal over them and keep hot.

Wipe out the pan with kitchen paper. Melt the remaining butter and cook to a rich shade of gold. Quickly add generous 1 teaspoon lemon juice and a little salt and pepper. Swirl to mix well, pour over the trout and serve immediately with wedges of lemon.

Source: Philippa Davenport in "Country Living" (British), June 1987. Typed for you by Karen Mintzias

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