Bacon-Wrapped Trout

It may be somewhat a daunting task to cook a whole, bone-in fish, but luckily, I discovered that it was quite the opposite!  No matter how you look at it, fish is easy to cook.  Season it with some salt and pepper, sprinkle with lemon or lime juice and some herbs, toss it on a grill or put it in an oven, and in 10 to 15 minutes, your meal is ready.  Sounds easy right?

I came across trouts one day at the supermarket since they were having a sale.  I looked at this fish, right in the eyes, and debated for a few minutes if I should dare to try to cook this.  I thought to myself, "It would be kind of gross to touch this fish, as it is whole and the head is still attached, but I did promise myself that we should eat more fish.  We really don't eat enough fish.  Wait, but that's really not my fault because I love salmon, but the husband does not.  Darn, I wish we can eat salmon..."  Well, I digress..., but because of this fact, I braved the thought of holding the fish in my hands and bought it for dinner that night.

After opening the package and washing the trout thoroughly with cold water, I opened up the pre-cut flap at the fish's stomach area and saw that the guts were removed (thank god).  However, the spine and tiny bones were still attached.  In order to make this dish more pleasant and enjoyable, so that we can eat more fish in the future (do you sense that the hubby is a picky fish-eater?? hahaa), I decided to take out the spine and bones with a small paring knife.  I ended up with bruised fingers and a sore back, because this process took a bit longer than I anticipated, but the end result was nice because we did not have to be as cautious swallowing the meat during the meal.

Bacon-Wrapped Trout

Ingredients
- 2 trout, about 1 lb. per fish
- 8-10 slices of bacon (thick bacon recommended), about 4-5 slices per fish
- 1 small lemon, sliced
- 2 tsp Italian herbs mix (1 tsp per fish)
- 1 tsp dried parsley or 1 Tbsp fresh parsley (1/2 tsp dried per fish, 1/2 Tbsp fresh per fish)
- 2 tsp olive oil (1 tsp per fish), and about 1 Tbsp for the grill (or you can use Pam for the grill)
- salt
- freshly ground pepper

Tools
- grill, outdoor or over the stove top
- paring knife (optional)
- toothpicks (optional)

Steps
1. Wash the trout with cold water and pat dry.  Optional: remove the spine and bones for ease of consumption.  Start with the spine by using the paring knife and cutting and breaking the spine from one end of the fish.  As you remove the spine, use your finger to pick at the bones connected to the spine and remove them from the meat.

2. Generously season the entire fish with salt and pepper, inside and out.

3. Season the internal fish with herbs and 1 tsp of olive oil, and place lemon slices on the inside.  Ensure the lemon slices are small enough so that you can close the area.  It would be difficult to wrap the fish with bacon if the lemon slices are falling out of the fish!

4. Wrap each trout with 4-5 slices of bacon.  Warning: most likely, the bacon slices will not firmly stay on the fish, so you can use toothpicks to hold them in place by threading them through the bacon.

5. Pre-heat the grill and coat the grill with 1 Tbsp of olive oil, or spray with Pam.  Transfer the fish to the pre-heated, pre-oiled grill.  Be careful when you transfer because the bacon slices may fall off the fish.

 6. Grill the trout for about 10 minutes.  If you are using an outdoor grill, covered the grill for added heat.  Check after 10 minutes to see if the fish is done.  If not, continue to grill for a 2-3 minutes and check again.

Serves 2-4.