Campfire Trout with Herbs and Bacon Recipe
We think grilling over an open fire is really the best way to cook trout. For this recipe, we leave the catching and cleaning part to the pros by buying ready-to-cook boneless, butterflied fish. We stuff it with herbs and lemon, wrap it with a little bacon, and put it over the fire. Now that’s haute grub!
What to buy: Boneless, butterflied trout are available in many grocery stores.
Special equipment: A grilling basket makes grilling whole stuffed fish much easier. We really like this model, which has flexible wires that hold food snugly.
Game plan: Wash the herbs and slice the lemons the day before you go camping for much quicker fireside prep.
The fish can also be cooked on an outdoor grill over high heat (500°F) until the flesh is opaque and flakes easily with a fork, about 5 minutes. You can also make this dish indoors by preparing the fish as directed and placing it on a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet under a heated broiler. Cook for 5 minutes or until the flesh is opaque and flakes easily with a fork.
- 4 small butterflied whole trout (8 to 10 ounces each)
- Chef’s Salt and Pepper Mix
- 1 medium lemon, thinly sliced
- Generous handful of mixed herbs, such as thyme, rosemary, chervil, and tarragon
- 4 pieces thinly sliced smoked bacon or turkey bacon
- Build a campfire and place a grilling rack over it.
- Open the grilling basket and place it over a cutting board. Lay trout in the grilling basket opened up like a book. Sprinkle flesh generously with salt and pepper mix. Distribute lemon slices and herbs evenly among trout, laying ingredients on the left half of each fish.
- Close the right half of the trout over the filling. Secure each fish by wrapping a slice of bacon around its middle section. Sprinkle outside of each fish with salt and pepper mix and close the grilling basket.
- Set the grilling basket over the campfire, directly on the grill rack. Cook, flipping the grilling basket occasionally, until trout are nicely browned, bacon is rendered, and each fish’s flesh is opaque and flakes easily with a fork. Remove from heat, open the basket, and transfer fish to a serving platter.
Beverage pairing: Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages, France. Smoky bacon and open-fire grilling push this dish toward a red wine, but a very light one. This Louis Jadot has a nice firmness as well as classic tart cherry flavors and a little earthiness. Chill a bit before serving.
I like the grill basket. I,m use to making trout this way in a cast iron skillet. Nice!
When I livedin Spain, they matron made this in a pan, it was always a treat, and this brought back some great memories.
This must come under the "bacon makes anything taste better" umbrella. But you've got to be kidding, right? Do you even taste the trout? Long John Silver makes fish that doesn't taste like fish - is this the same kinda thing?
Yummmm...we have done this using pancetta instead of the bacon. I guess it's all bacon anyway right!!!
I made this (on the grill) and it didn't stick. Why bother criticizing a recipe without first making it?
why tell people to use a grilling basket without first oiling or spraying with pam so that the skin ddoes not stick to the metal.
Bacon place raw bacon between two plates and microwave till cooked, you can then wrap and fold into the cavity if you have a large fish or you can lay lengthwise on the grate place the fish on top place a second piece of bacon on top and close the grate.
I made this last night with a 2.5# trout and the bacon-belt proved to be impossible. Make sure you get or catch small, but legal trout! Otherwise, delicious.