High Sierra Topix

Thanks' for the suggestions. I will give poaching a try.
Gary C.

cmon4day wrote:The easiest way to cook your trout is to wrap them in aluminum foil and throw them onto some glowing coals from the fire. About 5-7 a side and they are done. Fast, easy, and they taste goooood.

Vic

Ditto. My extravagance in backcountry cooking is usually a container of squeeze butter and a container of seasoned salt. I wrap the trout in the foil, smothered in a mixture of butter and seasoned salt, do the 5-7/side and then enjoy.

We used to roll them in cornmeal and then fry but to lighten my pack (now traveling alone) I have gone to poaching in water and tamari sauce. Large fish have to be chunked as my pot is not large.

I went ahead and ordered on of the saucepans linked below so that I can give poaching a try when I will be in the no campfire areas. Beetween it and my MSR titanium pot they still wiegh less than the pot I carried in the past.
Gary C.

http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/48125 ... _HIKING_SA

Here is a sample recipe and technique, non backpacking version. These recipes can be service hot or cold so if it doesn't all get eaten at dinner, the leftovers could be lunch the next day. (hold the mayo until serving, use only the mayo packets)

http://www.toptrout.co.uk/acatalog/Topt ... on_34.html

[quote="gary c."]I went ahead and ordered on of the saucepans linked below so that I can give poaching a try when I will be in the no campfire areas. Beetween it and my MSR titanium pot they still wiegh less than the pot I carried in the past.
Gary C.

As noted in my earlier post, I essentially poach my fish when in no campfire areas (as does Huts), but I think the key is to use only enough water as necessary. Too much and it is essentially boiled and you lose flavor. Too little, of course and you burn on the bottom before the fish is completely cooked. Similar to Huts I use a sauce (teriyaki, which is pretty similar to tamari sauce), and I also use oil and add a bit of water only if necessary: If I'm getting a bunch of small brookies (cleaned and sitting in the lake on a stringer, say) from the water and flopping them into my pot, there is enough extra water slopping into the pot (along with the fish). If I'm chunking a big fella or two and throwing the chunks into the pot I usually add a smidgen of water in addition to the sauce and oil. The perfect balance is for all the excess liquid to be nearly boiled off right at the time the fish is cooked. Then you have some yummy crunchy stuff on the bottom and not a bunch of excess fish soup slopping around. The oil (olive oil is nice, but even regular vegetable oil such as canola is OK) really enhances the flavor (in by book) in addition to boosting the number of calories (always a good thing while backpacking). Oil is both good and bad when it comes to cleaning. The good, with an old regular lightweight aluminum pot w/o non stick coating (such as mine) is that it keeps the fish from sticking too much. The bad is that, well, it's oily.

I just had my first experience catching and enjoying trout while backpacking. Below Register Creek and then above Waterwheel Falls along the Tuolumne River last week we caught 8" Rainbows and a couple of 10" Browns.
While we hadn't counted on fish for dinner, we had our fingers crossed and I took foil, olive oil, and a tube of Pesto just in case. It turns out that we also had a small frying pan along. First night we pan fried in olive oil. Second night we steamed in foil and Pesto sauce. Both were great!! Also made cheese and pesto quesadillos. Best camp food I've had in a long, long time.

Lightning Dog wrote:I just had my first experience catching and enjoying trout while backpacking.

You have finally LIVED!

mountaineer wrote:

Lightning Dog wrote:I just had my first experience catching and enjoying trout while backpacking.

You have finally LIVED!

You guys are killin me!!! Gotta get back out soon!

Trout ceviche which involves zero cooking, and eaten with a tortilla.
Trout curry with sun-dried tomatoes and pita bread, or naan from Trader's Joe.
Trout with almonds and butter which is a classic.
Trout crusted with crumbled wasabi soy nuts.