DERBYSHIRE FISH SUPPER

Hailing as I do from the country sidefresh water  fish and bacon were always plentiful, the pure rivers of Derbyshire contain some of the best trout in England and our farmers produce the finest bacon which was dry cured to perfection by our local butcher or often as not the farmers wife herself. My kitchen today houses a very large bacon settle which was used for the curing of bacon, ham and gammon.

The base contained a large pan into which a half pig would be placed for curing, once this was done the meat would have been hung inside the top cupboard from meat hooks ready for use.

The following recipe combines the wonderful bacon and the magnificent trout to make a dish which is simple enough for a family supper and grand enough to serve at a dinner party.

Heat the oven to 180oC

6 x 8ox trout

12 rashers of thin dry cured streaky bacon smoked or green

1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper

Clean the trout or ask the fishmonger to do this if you buy them, keep them whole.

Season the inside of the fish with the salt and pepper. If your bacon has rinds trim them off and place them in a baking dish that will hold the fish snugly. Place the fish nose to tail on top of the rashers and sprinkle with the parsley. Cover with foil and bake for twenty minutes in a pre-heated oven.

Serve with mashed potatoes and salad or as I do with new potatoes asparagus and a hollandaise sauce.

This dish gets the seal of approval from Twiggy as she loves bacon and is a also fond of trout.