Rosemary

Grilled Stuffed Lake Trout (served with a Creamy Cucumber Salad)
Serves 2-4

2 whole trout, cleaned (each about 12-16 ounces)
Fresh herbs

1. Preheat your grill for 5 minutes on high heat.  Use a wire brush to remove any previous residue.
2. Prepare your fish. I used fresh sprigs of rosemary and fresh basil in the abdominal cavity, with some sliced onion and lime. (I didn’t have any lemon.) You could also simply sprinkle salt and pepper and any other seasoning in the cavity. I also sprinkled black pepper on the skin (but I don’t think that added anything to the finished meal.)

1. Turn the heat to low and carefully dip a paper towel in cooking oil (any kind) and with a pair of tongs, wipe the oil on the grill. Repeat that 2-3 times, because you really don’t want the fish to stick to the grill.
2. Turn the heat back to medium-high.
3. Lay the fish on the grill. Let it cook until the skin begins to brown (mine got a little too dark, but it didn’t make any difference in flavor, only appearance.) This will take 3-5 minutes.

1. Turn the fish over for another 3-5 minutes.
2. Remove from the grill. Let cool for a few minutes so it is easier to handle.
3. With a sharp knife, I cut the head and tails off, and then peel the skin off from one side (see why it doesn’t matter it the skin gets charred?)
4. After the skin is off, place the edge of the blade along the spine (parallel to the spine) and ease it into the flesh. Gently pull toward you and the flesh will come off in large pieces.
5. After you have the flesh off that side, beginning at the tail, pick up the spine and lift it off. The should remove almost all bones from the fish (but be careful, some can be stubborn.)