Smoking Trout in a Back Yard Cooker

Ray Cooper is a “good ol’ boy.” I’ve known him for years. We’ve gone quail hunting in Arkansas, steelhead fishing on the Rogue River in southern Oregon and we’ve fished the Florida Keys.

You may know him too. He does a fishing program called “Crooked Creek” Saturday mornings on ESPN. He does a little cooking on the show from time to time, and he’s a pretty good cook.

For a while, Cooper was head of the National Trout Farmers Assn. He knows a good bit about farm-raised trout. Now he’s into smoking them. He has an operation called White River Foods Inc. on the White River in northern Arkansas, where he smokes farm-raised trout over applewood. It’s delicious.

I visited Cooper in Arkansas not long ago, and we tasted smoked trout in a variety of ways. He even taught me how to smoke my own in my covered cooker in the back yard.

SMOKED TROUT

1 1/4 cups salt

1 1/2 gallons water

5 pounds trout fillets

1 pound wood chips--hickory, apple, oak, etc.

Dissolve salt in 1 gallon water. Place fish in salt water and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour.

Remove trout, rinse and dry thoroughly. Soak wood chips in remaining 1/2 gallon fresh water several hours or overnight. Refrigerate fish while soaking chips.

Bring covered grill (charcoal, gas or electric) to low heat. Cover heated coals with 1/3 hickory chips.

Place fish, skin-side down, on well-greased grill about 4 to 6 inches from coals. Close grill hood and open vent to circulate smoke. Add additional wood chips as necessary.

Smoke trout at 105 to 175 degrees approximately 1 hour or at 200 degrees 30 to 40 minutes. Trout is done when cut surface is golden brown and flakes easily with fork. Makes 6 servings.

SMOKE TROUT PATE

1/2 pound smoked trout fillets

1/2 pound cream cheese, softened

1 clove garlic, crushed

Juice of 1 lemon

Pepper

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 tablespoons red wine

Lettuce leaves

Thin lemon slices

Crisp toast

Flake smoked trout finely with fork. Combine with cream cheese, garlic, lemon juice, pepper to taste, butter and wine, blending well. Pack into individual buttered molds and chill.

Turn out on lettuce leaves, garnish with thin lemon slices and serve with crisp toast. Makes 6 servings.

CASSEROLE OF SMOKED TROUT

1 1/2 cups cooked spinach

Butter

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons chopped onion

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon oil

1 1/4 cups fish stock or milk

1 pound hot smoked trout

2 tablespoons Sherry

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Hard-cooked egg, sliced

Watercress or parsley

Chop spinach and place in bottom of greased baking dish. Season with 1 tablespoon melted butter, pepper and nutmeg.

Cook onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons butter until tender. Blend in flour and oil. Add stock and cook until thick, stirring constantly.

Break up and mash smoked trout. Add along with Sherry to sauce and blend with electric mixer or blender.

Pour sauce over spinach. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake at 350 degrees 20 to 25 minutes. Garnish with egg slices and watercress. Makes 6 servings.