A girl with a grill

Ten years of apartment living is enough to drive any self-respecting cook a little crazy. You don't have much control over your environement, or appliances. I've had to make do with apartment sized fridges and stoves on more than one occasion. But perhaps one of the most frustrating aspects of apartment life was the lack of barbecue opportunities.

Surely a more resourceful individual may have lugged a little charcoal grill down to a park to barbecue, but realistically, it's a lot of hassle, and so for the last decade or so I've had to content myself with barbecue when visiting other people.

However that has all changed now. My own home, and own back yard, means I can fire up the grill (a wonderful housewarming gift from my parents), whenever I please.

 This weekend included a variety of grilled delights from corn on the cob to smoked rainbow trout, and a thwarted attempt at rotisserie-style chicken, due to malfunctioning motor.

In the end I smelled like smoke, but even the neighbours were peeking over the fence to see what was grilling, and I had to share some of this rainbow trout with them. It was too good to keep to ourselves!

Smoked rainbow trout

I've watched enough of Rob Rainford's License to Grill to know how to make a smoke pouch (2 parts soaked wood chips to one part dry wood chips wrapped in a foil pouch, punctured to let the smoke escape.)

I opted to go with a mesquite wood. Now some people might argue that the mesquite is too strong for the fish. However, since the fish doesn't cook for more than 30 m inutes or so, it really doesn't hurt to have a stronger flavoured wood, so I say go for it!

This recipe is a bit of a nod to both my heritage (the maple syrup, yes I AM Canadian) and my husband's Caribbean heritage (the ginger, lime and lemon).

I used:

3 whole rainbow trout, filleted, skin on (6 fillets);

the zest of one lemon, and one lime;

1/4 cup of maple syrup (okay, maybe even a little more!);

1 tsp grated fresh ginger;

3 tbsp of canola oil;Maple smoked rainbow trout

salt and pepper to taste.

3 cups of mesquite wood chips.

Directions:

Make the smoke pouch as described above and place directly over burners on side of grill. Light those burners to a medium heat and start generating smoke.

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and pour over fillets. Let sit in refrigerator for 30 min.

When ready, and smoke is visible from barbecue place fish on grill, on opposite side of smoke pouch, over unlit burners. Close lid to cook over indirect heat. The temperature should be about 250F. Try to resist peeking inside, as it will release smoke from barbecue cavity.

After about 30 min., fish should be cooked. Check for firmness of flesh. For a more pronouced taste cook longer. The crisp up fish skin ignite burners below fish and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.

Enjoy with a nice pineapple salsa, and fresh salad and grilled corn on the cob :)