Wednesday, 20 August 2008

Scottish Scran 3 - Trout in Oatmeal

Well, I promised you a trooty affair for the third instalment of Scottish Scran... and here it is... Trout in Oatmeal!

Trout always reminds me of my childhood in Alloa. My poppy (grandad!) used to go out fly fishing for trout down to the River Devon; many a morning I'd come down the stairs bleary-eyed to be started awake by the sight of two or three specimen waiting in the sink to be cleaned. (And on a couple of occasions, a bunny that he had managed to do a trade for if he'd got a good haul that day!)

Now, I look back and wish I had that sort of produce available to me now... but at the time I wasn't a huge trout fan - only really loving it in fish pie. I think maybe it was just a bit too strongly flavoured for my young palette - definitely not the case now.

Though I have cooked with trout many times since then - this was the first time I'd tried my hand at this very simple, but very tasty Scottish dish. Trout fillets are coated in oatmeal before being fried until crunchy, then served with parsley lemon butter.

I decided to dish it it with a spring onion potato cake, some lightly steamed, fine sliced runner beans, and a couple of oven roasted tomatoes.

And, just for a little something a little different, here's an old children's song, originally written in the 1950s by Sandy Thomas Ross in a book called Bairnsangs (i.e. Children's Songs!)

The Auld Troot

The auld broon troot lay unner a stane,
Unner a stane lay he,
An he thocht o' the wund,
An he thocht o' the rain,
An the troot that he uist tae be.

A'm a gey auld troot, said he tae hissel,
A gey auld troot, said he,
An there's mony a queer-like
Tale A cuid tell
O' the things that hae happened tae me.

They wee-hafflin trooties are aa verra smart,
They're aa verra smert, said he,
They ken aa the rules
O' the gemm aff by hairt,
An they're no aften catched, A'll agree.

They're thinkin A'm auld an they're thinkin A'm duin,
They're thinkin A'm duin, said he,
They're thinkin A'm no
Worth the flirt o' a fin
Or the blink o' a bonnie black ee.

But A'm safe an A'm smug in ma bonnie wee neuk,
A'm safe an A'm snug, said he,
A'm the big fush that
Nae fusher can heuk,
An A'll aye be that - till A dee!

I'll leave you to decipher that amongst yourselves... ah'll gie ye a heidstart, auld's old!


Trout in Oatmeal


  • 2 large trout fillets
  • 1 cup of fine ground oatmeal
  • 1/2 cup of milk
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp butter, softened
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
  • The zest and juice of half a lemon
  • A good grind of black pepper
  • nut oil to fry
Prepare the Butter...
MIx together the butter, parsley lemon zest/juice and black pepper together until smooth. Place on a sheet of clingfilm and wrap tightly, before putting it back in the fridge to firm up.

Prepare the Trout...
Mix together the salt and the oatmeal. Cut each fillet of trout in two, then dip into the milk. Let the excess milk drain off, then dip into the oatmeal mixture - being sure to coat thoroughly. Place in the fridge while you prepare the sides!

Cook the Trout...
Heat a decent amount of oil in a shallow frying pan. Get it nice and hot - we want to get a good crunch going for the oatmeal - without overcooking the fish!

Carefully lay the trout into the oil, and allow to cook for a couple of minutes, until the oatmeal is nice and golden. Carefully turn and cook for another couple of minutes on the other side.

Serve!
Place the trout on a warm plate with the rosti and veg. Take the parsley butter out the fridge and cut into slice with a shape knife. Place the butter on the trout - and enjoy!



I managed to find a pic of pretty much exactly where my poppy took me fishing once. I didn't catch any trout... I don't think being a 9 year old mad child was conducive to the peace and quiet required... I wasn't asked back! But it was such a beautiful day and a beautiful place.


Scottish Word of the Day!

Greet - cry, also greeting - crying

When ma wee sister saw th' deid bunnie*, she started greetin' til ma mither said she didnae huv tae eat it! But whit she didnae ken wis that the chicken pie she et that night, may no huv been chicken efter a'!



* Oh, and here's another random Scottish fact for you - did you know that the word bunny comes from the old Scottish word 'bun', meaning rabbit??

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28 comments:

Jeanne said...

Oh I love the poem! Makes you want to read it out loud to yourself :) And love the trout recipe too - I'm a huge fan of trout but usually just fry it in butter and top it with toasted almonds :)

Dee said...

Great post Kittie. And the recipe's not half bad too *she says bookmarking madly* ;)

Anonymous said...

wow ... trout and oatmeal .. such a healthy, delicious combo. nice food presentation too :)

Unknown said...

The fotie brocht a tear tae ma ee!

And such a lovely poem too. Trouts on tea menu this week Kitty :)

Anonymous said...

This looks amazing. My dad is a fly fisherman; we never had his trout this way but I'm sure he'll want to try it (I know I do!)

Laura Paterson said...

jeanne - toasted almonds must go great with trout! It's definitely an out-loud poem!

Thanks dee - hope you had a good holiday! And glad the beef turned out well!!

Thanks noobcook - it would have been healthier if I hadn't fried it in so much oil ;)

I can't believe I found it mags - it's absolutely spot on (the pic)!

Laura Paterson said...

fk - oh you're so lucky to get trout proper fresh! If you try it this way, I hope you both like it :D

Salt N Turmeric said...

The story that comes with word of the day is so funny! lol.

i must try using oatmeal for coating the next time i fry something.

ley said...

I've never thought about using oatmeal! I'll have to try that. I read the recipe title and thought it meant fish in oatmeal (like the kind of cooked oatmeal you'd eat hot with milk for breakfast). lol. I was like, "Ehh...I'm not sure about Scottish food..." ;)

That's such a gorgous place in the picture, and a really pretty poem! I wish I could recite it with an appropriate brogue, though...those kinds of things just don't sound right with an ignorant American accent destroying the softness of it. lol.

glamah16 said...

Oatmeal as breading is a wonderful idea. I know what you mean ablut not appreciating such food as a youngster.

Mike of Mike's Table said...

The title had me wondering...lol, I pictured a bowl of oatmeal (like for breakfast) with trout in it...which amazingly enough, did not get my stomach growling.

As breading for frying it though--that sounds spectacular! I could only imagine the great crunch you get on that crust...and the discs of herb butter really make for a nice presentation.

I was also the same way as a youngster. I only ate two kinds of fish: fried flounder or on a sandwich from McDonalds...any other way was gross! lol, how far we've come...

Laura Paterson said...

SnT - I know... I don't know if she ever found out... but I guess she will now!!

ley - oops, we don't really call breakfast oats 'oatmeal', so I didn't think about that... That would be gross!!! I'm really glad you like the poem too - but I agree it probably does need the accent ;)

It tasted really good Coco, I'm going to try it with other stuff too now!!

What Mike? You mean trout porridge doesn't get you going?? You might not like my next post then: haggis in custard... ;)

hungryandfrozen said...

Ha seems I wasn't the only one who pictured a trout sitting in a hot bowl of porridge :) Your recipe sounds much nicer than that! Love the poem too.

Lo said...

So glad you visited Burp! Otherwise I might never have stumbled upon your fantastic blog!

Love the combo of food & culture!(and Old English, to boot!)

Thistlemoon said...

That is so interesting! How beautiful Scotland is. It is one of my favorite places to travel to (although I have only been there once). My dad's side of the family is mostly Scottish (a little German thrown in). Surname: Barr. I tried Irn-Bru with such elation, and I didn't like it! What a bummer!I was so sad. :)

Trout and oatmeal sounds delicious and the place your Poppy used to go trout fishing is gorgeous!

Adam said...

Ha I was really confused at first too. But a trout with an oatmeal crust... ohhhh :)

I think it's a great idea, and adds a bit of nutty flavor right? Your pics are awesome, once again, and thanks for teaching us Scottish :)

maybelles mom said...

facinating. Really nice post.

Laura Paterson said...

Laura - I'm really tempted to go rename my piece now... but I quite like people thinking I might actually be that weird ;)

Thanks for stopping by Lo - I'm glad I found Burp! too - if your kir turns out I'm going to have a go myself!!

Jenn - I'm so glad you like Scotland, despite living in England, I do love it! In shock over the not liking Irn Bru - maybe it's one of those things you have to grow up with??! It is super sweet!

Adam... genius - Trout with an Oatmeal Crust - now that would have been a better name!!

I'm glad you liked it maybelle's mom - I enjoyed writing it, lots of memories.

Lore said...

I've never tried coating any fish in oatmeal before, only cornmeal but this looks soooo crispy! That spring onion potato cake sound yummy too - can't help my savoury cravings ;)
You spent your childhood in such a serene and beautiful place!
Can't wait for your next instalment, I'm quite enthousiastic about learning new Scottish words and finding a bit more about the traditional cuisine!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I haven't been fishing in years so trout would have to be farmed that made it to my table these days.

Brittany said...

Wow, that actually looks amazing! And I have trout to use, even better!

Anonymous said...

Delicious food, great photos, hilarious poetry. I'm loving it all!

Jeff said...

Learned something new today about bunnies. Yeah!!

The oatmeal crust sounds amazing and topped with a compound butter I am drooling over here as a I eat another apple.

Nicely done!

Laura Paterson said...

lore - I'm a savoury gal too! The potato cake was kinda like a latke (grated tattie and egg) - with shredded spring onion of course! It was yum :)

val - farmed fish is better than no fish!

brittany - go for it! Btw, still smirking from your last post ;)

Thanks tom!

jeff - don't you mean deep-fried mac & cheese?? Don't you come over here pretending to be all healthy ;)

Neen said...

I'm so glad you're sharing these scottish dishes and tid-bits, it's really fascinating. When I first read your title, I thought it was trout and porridge, which struck me as very odd but okay.... :) At some point you should teach us how to make fish pie!

Alicia Foodycat said...

Fantastic! WHat oatmeal do you use? I've only got porridge oats in the pantry! Needs to be finer than that, doesn't it?

Laura Paterson said...

neen, I think I'm actually going to have to make trout in porridge... just to see ;)

foodycat - it need to be finely milled oatmeal, but you can get a similar effect by blitzing porridge oats in the food processor!

Alicia Foodycat said...

... might need to buy a food processor!