Trout Choucroute Recipe
- 4 bacon slices
- 1 large onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 pound sauerkraut, drained, rinsed, and squeezed dry
- 2 juniper berries, slightly crushed
- 1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 2/3 cup dry white wine (preferably Alsatian Riesling)
- 3/4 cup water
- 4 (4- to 5-ounce) trout fillets with skin, pin bones removed
- Cook bacon in a 10-inch nonreactive heavy skillet over medium-low heat, turning occasionally, until lightly browned but still flexible. Drain on paper towels.
- Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet, then cook onion with butter in skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients, except trout, and 1/8 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed and mixture is tender and lightly browned, 25 to 35 minutes.
- While sauerkraut mixture cooks, put trout, skin sides down, on a work surface. Pat fillets dry and lightly season with salt and pepper, then put a strip of bacon on each. Roll up fillets from wider end, enclosing bacon and securing each with a wooden pick.
- Arrange rolls, wider spiral sides up, on sauerkraut mixture and cover with a round of buttered parchment paper, then with a lid. Cook, covered, over medium heat until fish is just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Discard bay leaf, juniper berries, and wooden picks. Serve trout on sauerkraut.