M&M lake trout

[Steve Foss]

Yeah, it melts in your mouth, not in your hand.

There are a few places in the country you can catch fresh lake trout at the same time someone is harvesting fresh morels. I provided the fresh lake trout, and my wife, Lisa, happened upon more than a dozen excellent morels within an easy walk of our house yesterday.

So we've got the rarest of the ingredients for our own M&M laker recipe. We made this up nearly 9 years ago, when we brought vacuum packed laker fillets to the Bemidji lake cabin in May, and happened upon a nice morel harvest there, which is pretty common this time of year. Morels are not nearly as common here around Ely, though there are more than people think.

Slice, then saute morels in unsalted butter.

Add a good merlot red wine.

Reduce to preferred consistency, but do not spice.

While that's going on, grill or broil a fresh lake trout fillet with skin on. We tend to rub on extra virgin olive oil and I prefer nothing else. The flavors of lake trout, morels and merlot are enough all by themselves. That's why I prefer unsalted butter, as well. Three delicate flavors, one amazing taste treat. When the trout is done, drizzle the M&M sauce over it and serve.

I didn't bother with amounts. Most anyone who likes to cook can figure that out pretty well.

As I type this, Lisa is preparing that dish in the kitchen for our supper, and the amazing smells are wafting up the staircase and into my office.

Mmmmmmmmm.

[reinhard1]

i like your cooking style steve!lakers arent as easy to come by down here but i'll give it a shot this week up at grindstone. if i dont get a laker i will butterfly some rainbow and try it. good luck.

[Steve Foss]

Hope you like it, bud.

My wife and I differ on how we prefer it. She reduces the sauce so much it's basically the murshrooms themselves with just a tiny bit of added drizzle. She also spices the fillet a bit with small onion shavings. I prefer a lot more sauce with the morels and unspiced fillets. Let the subtle flavors mingle, I say!

Reminds me of the first time I went out West and ordered a steak in a restaurant in a little town in the North Dakota badlands. When it came, I asked for steak sauce, and I swear the whole restaurant went silent. The waitress got a bit red around the gills, looked at the other customers and told me that if I didn't want to taste the meat, why order meat?

That got a pretty good laugh.

I thanked her, shut up and ate the meat. It was very good. When I was on my way out, I bet 8 people asked me how I liked the first steak I ever tasted.

[Leaky]

Fresh Laker & Schrooms................Sounds awesome Steve!