Southwestern Trout and Green Chile Grits

Unless you live in the Southeastern U.S., you may not get too worked up over a recipe that includes “grits”. Grits is coarsely ground corn. Or is it, grits are ground corn. Either way you say it, it’s pretty much the same as polenta, its Italian cousin. If you don’t want to go to the trouble of filleting your trout, cook it whole and remove the skeleton after it’s cooked. The recipe calls for Quick Grits. You can take your time and use the regular variety, as I’m not a big fan of Instant Grits.

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Southwestern Trout and Green Chile Grits

Ingredients

The Grits

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup half and half
• pinch salt
• 1 cup quick grits
• 1/2 cup roasted green chilies diced
• pinch ground cumin
• 1 cup shredded jack cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves minced

The Trout

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup masa flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 trout fillets about 8 – 10 ounces each
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/3 cup red onion finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 Anaheim peppers sliced into rings
• 1 jalapeno pepper seeded and minced
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup canned or fresh diced tomato
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
• 4 tablespoons butter chilled

Instructions

The Grits Instructions

• Bring chicken broth and half and half and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Slowly stir in grits. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover. Cook 5 -7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in green chilies, cheese and cilantro. Keep warm.

The Trout Instructions

• Combine first 4 ingredients and dust fish fillets with seasoned flour. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add trout and lightly brown on both sides. Remove trout from pan and keep warm. Add wine to pan and stir to loosen bits. Add onion, garlic and peppers. Saute for 3- 4 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes and lemon juice. Bring to boil and reduce liquid by one-half. Whisk in chilled butter until melted.
• To serve, place a mound of grits on the center of each plate. Arrange trout around grits and spoon sauce over.