Best for: A shore lunch anywhere — whole trout, bacon, and onions in the iron skillet over the coals.
The record says a young Ernest Hemingway fished Michigan’s Upper Peninsula — the “Big Two-Hearted River” country — and carried those trips home into his Nick Adams stories, where the camp cooking is described with the same care as the fishing: trout in a skillet over the fire, cooked plainly and eaten the moment they’re done. Long before Paris and the fame, there was a boy, a river, and a pan of fish over an open fire.
Our grilled take puts the skillet right on the grill grate: whole trout crisped in bacon fat with onions, the way a shore lunch has always been cooked.
Grill: Direct medium-high heat. Equipment: Grill, large cast-iron skillet, fish spatula, instant-read thermometer. Course: Main dish.
Ingredients
Total: 30 minutes
- 4 whole trout (about 10 ounces each), cleaned, heads on or off as you like
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup fine cornmeal or flour, for a light dusting
- 4 slices bacon, cut in half crosswise
- 1 small onion, sliced thin
- 1 lemon, half sliced, half in wedges
- 2 tablespoons butter
Directions
Season the trout. Pat the fish dry inside and out, season with salt and pepper, tuck a lemon slice or two in each cavity, and dust the skin lightly with cornmeal — just enough to help it crisp.
Render the bacon. Set the skillet on the grill over direct medium-high heat and cook the bacon until crisp and the fat runs clear, about 5 minutes. Lift the bacon out to a plate; leave every drop of fat in the pan.
Soften the onions. Cook the onion slices in the bacon fat until sweet and golden at the edges, about 4 minutes, then push them to the skillet’s edges.
Crisp the trout. Lay the trout in the hot skillet and cook undisturbed 4 to 5 minutes, until the skin is crisp and releases on its own. Flip once, gently, and cook 3 to 4 minutes more.
Finish to the number. The trout is done when the flesh flakes at a touch and reads 145°F at the thickest point. Drop in the butter for the last minute and let it foam over the fish.
Serve from the skillet. Crumble the bacon over the top, add the lemon wedges, and carry the whole skillet to the table — shore lunches are not plated, they’re gathered around.
Grilling tip: Fish tells you when it’s ready to flip — it releases from the pan cleanly. Forcing it early tears the skin; patience keeps the crisp part attached to the fish instead of the skillet.
