Instructions

Let's start cooking. If cooking a whole fish looks intimidating, I get it. I used to feel that way until I decided it was time to get over it and learn. And you know what? Cooking a whole fish is so simple that I’m almost embarrassed this used to intimidate me.

As it turns out, King Soopers, which is part of the Kroger chain and my local store, sells trout gutted, scaled and cleaned. If you shop at a store from the Kroger brand, I suspect it would also offer whole trout ready for cooking. Even if it doesn't, you can ask the person at the seafood counter to gut the fish and prepare it for cooking. The idea of gutting a fish makes me squeamish, so I'm happy to skip this step.

Now that you have trout ready for cooking, simply dredge it flour, salt and pepper and fry it in oil for about five minutes per side. I love using a cast iron skillet for this and find it gives the trout the perfect crust.

While the fish cooks, go ahead and make the butter-beer sauce. Melt the butter in a sauce pan and give it a whisk once it starts to melt. After the butter melts, stir in some freshly grated garlic and let it cook for about 30 seconds. Then, add the beer, lemon juice and a pinch of salt if needed.

By the time your butter-beer sauce is ready, your trout should be done. Garnish the trout with chopped parsley and lemon. You can dunk each bite into the butter-beer sauce or spoon it all over the trout.

Perfect Pairing for German Pan-Fried Trout

For this pan-fried trout, you need a weissbier, which is a German-style wheat beer. After all, what kind of Oktoberfest celebration would it be without a good German-style beer? Weissbier is one of those beers that pairs nicely with so many foods, and I especially love it with this trout. Wiessbier’s body is light enough that it doesn't overpower the trout with plenty of lively carbonation to refresh the palate after a buttery bite.

While Oktoberfest is known for beer, a dry German riesling is also delicious with this pan-fried trout. Germany is known for its white wines as its cool climate makes it a better environment for white grape varietals. Typically, Germany rieslings make people think of a sweet wine, but German winemakers also produce plenty of dry rieslings. These dry rieslings are citrusy with high levels of acidity to help cut through the butter sauce and brighten the fish.