Prize-winning mackinaw recipe revealed
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If you are wondering what to do with your fish from Mack Days, here is a prize winning recipe from the 1st annual Feasts of Flathead, Epicurean Fillet Winner — me.
Some folks would just deep fat fry, stuff and bake or pan sauté their mackinaw trout. This recipe beats them all, served with a delicious aioli. You have probably eaten Crab Cakes and this recipe is based on that process only – not taste. Serve it up on a bed of field greens with, what else, huckleberry vinaigrette.
Mac Cakes
• 1 and 1/2 cups pecans, chopped fine but not pulverized
• 2 T coarsely ground peppercorns — red, white, black, green pink mixture
• 1 T lemon zest
salt and pepper to taste
• 3 T butter and 3 T olive oil for frying
Directions
Cut fillets into cubes, add enough Panko and some milk to bind, some salt and pepper and a tablespoon of lemon zest. Mix and shape into burger-sized patties. Set aside. Combine peppers and nuts in a small bowl. Set aside.
Heat oil and butter in a non-stick skillet to medium hot. Cooking time should be 5 to 7 minutes, turning once. Press the cakes, both sides, in the pepper nut mixture and fry until browned, turning once. Serve with a pecan aioli for dipping.
For the greens – choose your favorite, toss with huckleberry vinaigrette, place on a beautiful platter, top with the Mac Cakes.
For the huckleberry dressing, use bottled or make your own:
Smash about 1/2 cup of the berries, add some extra virgin olive oil, rice vinegar, 1 T course mustard, dash of sugar and whisk away. For the aioli (fancy mayonnaise) combine 1 cup mayonnaise (not low fat), 2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1 T lemon zest and some finely ground pecans.
Try a Mission Mountain Chardonnay, chilled. Sit on the deck and watch the lake go by. As the sticker on my car says, “Local is Delicious.”
