I start with a butterflied, deboned trout (here are instructions on how to butterfly a trout). If you don't have a butterflied trout handy, fillets or whole fish work fine. I just like the trout-as-schnitzel look of a flattened, boneless fish.
4frying pan sized troutbutterflied, fillets or whole
Salt
About 3/4 cup flour
1/4cupunsalted butter
1 1/2cupspeas,fresh or thawed
1cupchicken stock
Grated zest and juice of a lemon
3tablespoonsminced parsley
Black pepper to taste
Instructions
Rinse the trout in cold water and pat it dry with paper towels. Salt it lightly on both sides, then dredge it in flour.
Heat the butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. If you think you can get all the trout into the pan at once, you are good to go. If not, get individual plates ready and set your oven to 200°F.
When the butter is hot, lay the trout skin side down in the hot butter. Fry for 2 minutes, then use a large spoon to baste the meat side of the trout with butter. Keep basting with the spoon for a minute or two, depending on how thick the trout is. In the trout above I only basted it for about 90 seconds. When the skin side of the trout is golden brown, use a spatula (or two) to gently remove the trout and flip it skin side up onto a plate. If you need to fry more trout, put the plate in the oven.
When all the trout have been cooked, add the remaining ingredients to the pan and turn the heat to high. Boil furiously until the sauce reduces by half, then pour it over the trout. Serve at once with bread, rice or potatoes.