The Happy Camper: Algonquin Trout Recipes
Spring trips were always in Algonquin Park. It’s been a tradition since my high school chums paddled fibreglass three-keeled canoes and packed external-framed packs across the portage. Our booze was even stored in those hippie-style cowhide wine skins and we ate processed meals kept fresh in aluminum packs that we nicknamed: “barf in a bag.”
We’ve obviously progressed in our lives… and our gear. I own a lightweight canoe, waterproof pack (with an internal frame) and we create our own camp meals. Also, along the way we’ve even fabricated a few amazing trout recipes to spice things up when one of us hooks into a fish.
Here are a few of my favourites:
Caribbean Brook Trout
Ingredients
1 brook trout fillets (a small lake trout or rainbow trout will do the job as well)
2 lemons
1 small bag (100 g) jalapeno plantain chips
1 tbsp olive oil
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch black pepper
Mango salsa (dehydrated) – store bought or homemade:
1 cup frozen mango chunks
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red pepper, diced small
Few drops Tabasco sauce
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch dried thyme
Wooden skewers
At Camp
Mix chips, oil and pepper in a bowl or zip-lock bag and crush into small pieces. Cut trout into chunks and place three to four chunks on each skewer. Dip fish in chip mix and wrap in tinfoil. Cook over heat for five minutes per side and cover with lemon and mango salsa.
Spanish Perch
Ingredients
2 to 3 brook trout fillets
2 sausages
¼ cup olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red pepper (dehydrated)
½ cup diced leeks (dehydrated)
1 cup long-grain rice
2 cups water
1 can (443 ml) chopped tomatoes
Pinch saffron
Pinch salt
½ cup peas (frozen or dehydrated)
At Camp
Cut brook trout fillets into chunks and add to an oiled pan on medium heat. Add onion and sausage. When meat browns, add garlic, red pepper, leeks, tomatoes and peas and sauté for one minute. Add to cooked rice and simmer for 20 minutes.
Baked Pecans and Lake Trout
Ingredients
4 walleye fillets
1 tbsp olive oil
½ cup whole pecans
Pinch salt and pepper
12 Breton Original crackers (or anything similar)
At Home
Cucumber Salsa
½ English cucumber, finely diced
1 large tomato
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
3 drops Tabasco sauce
A dash of salt and black pepper
Mix ingredients for cucumber salad and store in a zip-lock bag.
At Camp
Mix olive oil, pecans, salt, pepper and crackers. Crumble mixture into what resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Roll trout fillets in crumbled mixture and place on in Tinfoil. Bake over coals for eight to 10 minutes and top with cucumber salsa.
Santa Fe Fish Cakes
Ingredients
1 lb of lake trout
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups dried potato flakes
2 tbsp cilantro
1 tsp dehydrated jalapeno pepper
½ tsp. dried onion
½ cup cornmeal
1 egg white or ½ cup powdered egg
1 cup dehydrated salsa
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
(* for best results use an Outback Oven)
At Camp
In a small pot combine reconstituted potato flakes, fish pieces, cilantro, jalapeno, onion, salt and pepper. Divide contents into small bundles and shape them into round cakes. Dredge in flour. Dip them egg white (or reconstituted powdered egg). Dredge them again in cornmeal. Bake in deep-dish frying pan or Outback Oven for 20 minutes. Reconstitute salsa sauce in 1/4 cup boiling water and serve on top of fish cakes.
Baked Trout Amandine
Ingredients
4 small brook trout
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
1 lemon
½ tsp. pepper
1 tbsp dried lemon thyme
1 tbsp dried sage
At Camp
In a small pot, combine bread crumbs, almonds, lemon thyme, sage and pepper. Mix well. Sprinkle contents of pot over skin side of gutted trout. Roll trout in tinfoil with slices lemon and bake in coals of campfire for 15 minutes.
Roast Lake Trout
Ingredients
1 medium size lake trout (headed and gutted, not filleted)
1 small walleye fillet (or walleye cheeks if you have them)
2 fresh lemons
1 medium white onion
a few good pinches lemon pepper spice
1 McIntosh apple sliced into chunks
1 cup butter
At Camp
Gut and de-head the lake trout and lay it on top a square of tinfoil. Fill the cavity of the lake trout with the cut-up lemon, apples, onion, butter and walleye. (The apples help keep the meat moist while baking.) Sprinkle on lemon pepper, wrap fish up in tin foil and place in hot coals for 20-30 minutes, turning it over halfway through. Remove from fire, open tin foil and peel or flake off meat (skin will stick to foil).
Bacon-Wrapped Trout
Ingredients
2 medium sized brook trout (or rainbow trout)
1/2 lb bacon
1/2 cup cornmeal
Pinch of thyme
1 lemon, sliced
Pinch of parsley, for garnish
Salt and ground pepper, to taste
At Camp
Gut the trout and dredge outside of fish with cornmeal. Season inside of fish with salt and pepper and place thyme and lemon slices. Then, wrap the bacon around the centre of the fish and place in aluminum foil. Cook for approximately five minutes in campfire coals or top of wood stove.
This was one of Ernest Hemingway’s favourite camping recipes. It’s one of mine as well.
