By Janice R. Edwards
The Bulletin
I’ve been lucky enough to write this column (along with my husband, Roy) for a couple of years now. It’s been a lot of fun, and we have enjoyed getting to know the Toths and our “clients.”
As a matter of fact, I got the nicest “fan” letter from Fred Sander regarding the column I wrote on Dorado fishing on May 12.
Fred asked for my recipe for Amandine. I think I published it sometime back in this column, but because he asked so nicely, I’ll run it again.
It’s a very simple recipe that tastes like it ought to be hard to make with expensive ingredients.
All you need is flour, butter (real butter, not margarine), fresh squeezed lemon juice (do NOT use that stuff in the plastic containers that tries to convince you it is juice - it won’t work), salt, pepper and slivered almonds (blanched is better). If you can, make it in a cast-iron skillet.
Without further ado, here is the Amandine recipe, Mr. Sander.
Speckled Trout Amandine
Trout Amandine
6 trout fillets
Milk
Flour (seasoned with salt and pepper to taste)
½ pound butter
Juice of 2 lemons
¼ lb. sliced almonds
Toast the almonds and set aside. Fillet 3 trout of about 2 ½ pounds each; dip the six tenderloins in cold milk, then in seasoned flour. Melt the butter in a large skillet and place the fish fillets in it.
Cook slowly until brown, then flip them over and brown the other side. Use a slow cook - not a hot fry, which would destroy the delicate flavor of the fish. Remove the fish; place on warm serving plates and keep hot.
Add the lemon juice and almonds to the butter in the pan. Raise the heat to high and stir and scrape the bottom and sides of the pan to release any browned particles, which are delicious - the soul of the meuniere.
Stir until the almonds turn a light golden brown (don’t let them get too brown, or they’ll be bitter). Pour this sauce over the fish fillets and serve immediately, piping hot.
That’s it - so simple and so good. I used trout here because my recipe comes from “Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz”, a great New Orleans-style cookbook that is out of print now, and they use trout.
Any light-meat fish will work, though. It’s not a match for Mackerel. Follow my directions, and you will thank me, or not, and cuss me.
If you noticed, I missed a week on my column. That’s because “times are a changing” at my house. We will be moving to Livingston as soon as we can close on the house we bought.
Our house on the San Bernard River is for sale. We’ve enjoyed this little bit of heaven, but we are getting older and need to be closer to doctors, grocery stores, etc. And, after sitting through Hurricane Nicholas, we’ve had enough of Gulf storms.
We have the best view on the river and fishing right outside our door. We have great neighbors, and we spent quite a bit upgrading this house. It will be listed in a couple of weeks.
I will try to write a weekly column as time, packing and Internet service will allow. But don’t think you are rid of me yet.
The Toths have been kind enough to ask me to continue writing once I get settled in Livingston. Love you guys – thanks for reading.
(Write Jan in care of The Bulletin. Email: john.bulletin@gmail.com. Snail mail: The Bulletin, PO Box 2426, Angleton TX, 77516.)