Savory Stuffed Baked Trout

Another Sunday, the first Sunday of March, and I should have been making something for Cookbook Sundays with Brenda, @Brenda's Canadian Kitchen, or make the yummy Brown Butter Brownies from Bon Appetit magazine, which I also have, and mentioned to Lizzy, @That skinny chick can bake!!!, who actually made these brownies, adapted it from Bon Appetit...but no! I have to be different...and "talk is cheap." The truth of the matter, I don't follow too many recipes, unless there is something special I want to make, then, I have to make a list of the ingredients that I don't have, and run to the store to get it, and by that time, I lose interest and just make do with what I have on hand. On the other hand, what better opportunity, when a dear friend invites me over to dinner, and lets me "run the show"...LOL. She knows that she can trust me with what I'm going to prepare, and in most cases it's seafood. She bought these beautiful trouts, from BJ's which is yet, another food club, just like Costco's, but I still prefer Costco's and know exactly what products they carry, even the seafood. The first thing that came to my mind, is that these little "guys" need to be stuffed, so my friend just brought out all the ingredients to choose from that she had in her fridge, and pantry, and dinner was done in 30 minutes...yeayyy!

Normally, I don't see trout at Costco's but then again, I have not looked for it because most of the time I buy shrimp, or salmon, so I don't look for any other type of fish, unless I stop at our local fish market where it's more expensive, but so well worth it. So without any further conversation, I will share my easy recipe with you.

Savory Stuffed Baked Trout
my own recipe

2 pieces about 1 lb. each of whole trout,
(cleaned, and gutted)
2 cups of herb croutons
3 cloves of garlic chopped
fresh herbs of your choice,
(I used fresh rosemary, and parsley)
sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper
liberal amount of extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup vegetable broth
a good handful of fresh baby spinach

Liberally drizzle olive oil over, and inside the fish, sprinkle with the fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper, and let it marinade for just a few minutes, while you are sauteing the garlic, the croutons, in a large skillet. Add the broth, the herbs, and the spinach, and cook for about another 5 minutes. Pack the cavities of the 2 trouts and gently pat it in making sure that you don't get the croutons all mushed up. In a preheat 400 degree oven, place the trouts on a aluminum lined baking sheet, and bake for no longer than 25 minutes. Serve with a side of couscous, rice, potatoes, or any side dish of your choice, with a few pieces of fresh spinach. Drizzle extra olive oil on the top, and serve.
Caution: Do not flip the fish on the other side, or stuffing will fall out. Serves 2. The skin will come right off, when you peel it, and so will the meat off the bone, in one try. Oh, so flaky, and delicious! Really enjoyable!

I'm not much of a wine expert, my friend is, and she always orders wines online. Normally white wine would have gone better with the fish, but she did not have one chilled, so we opted for this special Spanish red wine, which was really, good, and had somewhat of a fruity hint to it. I know for a fact that I don't care for heavy Cabernet, but this wine, was so amazing, and when you swirled the glass, it really had "legs"...as they call them meaning that it just hugged the inside of the glass, with little "legs" slowly drizzling down. Also another factor that I know learning it from wine experts, from yet, another friend of mine, who says, the more alcohol percentage volume, the better. Well, I have never seen 15% in any wine, and this one had it...even said it, right on the bottle, in Spanish. The highest alcohol volume I had, was 14% which was an Argentine, Malbec. I do prefer at least 13% in a nice Pinot Grigio, or a light Chardonnay...on that note...didn't I just contradict myself, that I don't know much about wine?...I do know, what I like, and this one really kicked "butt"...2 glasses, and you feel a good buzz!..:-DDD...(smiles)

Just so I won't leave you hanging, I will share last Sunday's event on the beach, where I live. An impromptu Sunday with my ex-husband, who by the way is my "best friend" my "BFF", the father of my beautiful 2 children, and 4 precious grandchildren. His special gift is bringing the most beautiful bouquet of flowers to each of us from his garden, that has lilies, blooming all over his garden at this time. Also, he brings baby fruit trees to plant for our daughter, and son.
We have known each other,...forever, since I was still in my last year of high school.
OK...enough mushy details, just an observance of a glorious, sunshiny day.

Today is not so glorious. Cloudy, windy, yesterday, a lot of rain, on and off, and that is also the forecast for today.

Mind you, this is a private beach for us who live there. This young couple visiting family, set up the volley ball net and had fun playing, right smack in front of us where we sat on the lounge chairs.

This is not the kind of stroll you want to do on the beach...notice all the seaweeds, and more important, a huge caution! Look at those horrific blue little bubbles littered all over the beach...hundreds of them. They are called "man of wars"...they are very much alive, with tentacles, that look like strings, they are poisonous, if you step on one, it will sting you like a bee, but even worst, because your toes, or your whole foot will swell up, and will get "beet" red, and you will be in pain, for hours. Not everyone is affected by them but as for me, I have some allergies, and it did happen to me last year. I had to go to the local fire station to get it treated, and all they really use, is just clear plain white vinegar, that will kill the poison. I love nature, but this has it's bad moments:-((

You will not see anyone in the water, because it is the "shark season" so that means that the sharks come so close to the shore and they actually bob their head so you can see them. Helicopters were cruising up and down, checking for them, and people were warned not to go in to the water...even in the shallow water.