Today Post::Entertaining, Southwestern Style (1/2)

When some contacts flew in from the Southwest, they smuggled in a fine spice for me: chipotle or smoked chilli powder (and a stash of black beans). With a summer so benign on us, it was time to draw a big gun: The Texas Cowboy Kitchen, by Grady Spears and June Naylor. A beautiful cookbook with black and white historical photographs. Not that we can even begin to recreate the savors of Tex-Mex, the taste of the frontier, or that our temperatures rival cicada-ridden nights.
It pays off to be an Honorary Texan (mug owner): my guest oohed and aahed his way through the meal. From “Pork Tenderloin with Watermelon Salsa”, I prepared the Watermelon Salsa. And “Pan Roasted Trout Ranchero”, along with Oven-roasted Potatoes. Here’s the recipe for the Trout Ranchero. For Watermelon Salsa, see next post.
Pan Roasted Trout Ranchero

From The Texas Cowboy Kitchen (ISBN 978-0-7407-6973-3)

Serves 4-6

3 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 trout fillets with skin, butterflied
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter (or olive oil)
1 onion, peeled, cut in half, sliced into thin half-moon ribbons
4 jalapeños, seeded, cut into matchsticks
4 cloves of garlic
4 roma tomatoes, seeded, cut in halves
juice of 2 limes
cilantro sprigs, jalapeño slices, and lime wedges for garnish
and chipotle chilli powder (my addition)

Note: I refer to the book to read how to fry trout: I followed another easy method: stewing fish fillets without skin at low temperature in the oven, in a liquid, olive oil: 10-12 minutes at 110 °C. I used lieu noir - koolvis - American pollack.

Next, the only thing I had to do was to prepare the Ranchero sauce in a pan: heat the oil, sauté onion, jalapeño and garlic for about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, sauté for another 3 minutes.

Remove from the heat, spoon the veggies over the fish. Add the garnish. Before serving, sprinkle with chipotle chilli powder.

The easiest recipe, the cookbook says, and I always do Easy. I’m way behind with cookbooks: The Cowboy Kitchen was a present two Christmases ago. But, as Lionel Trilling would say for great literature: cookbooks come to you at the right time.