Fishermen are always looking for a new way to prepare their catch. Eating fish the same way gets old fast. Most people simply bread, batter, or fry their fish. They then serve fried onion rings. French fries, or mac n cheese. Good, but boring.

My son Kyle recently became a Grill Master. His new pellet grill has been smoking. One of his meals featured a side dish of grilled Fennel. The large, stalk, bulb, vegetable has a wonderful, mild, flavor and aroma. He simply buttered the cleaned fennel, added some salt and pepper, wrapped it in foil and put it on the grill. You can also cut the fennel into pieces and place in the foil. Grilling it on the grate will also work.

Keeping his simple Fennel idea in mind, I tried the same thing with fish. Fresh trout filets work perfect for this recipe. You could use whole, cleaned trout, or walleye, or…

6 pan sized trout

2 leafy fennel branches (buy the whole Fennel, bulb, and branches together)

1 oz. butter

Squeeze of lemon juice

½ tsp. of herbs de Provence

½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper

½ tsp. garlic salt

For more spice, you could use Old Bay seasoning in place of the herbs de Provence.

Each can be made into a foil packet. You can lay them on the coals of a fire, over charcoal, or on a pellet grill. The foil keeps the fish moist. Butter the foil and lay the fish on top of the foil. Wrap a branch of fennel around the fish and spice. Cook for about 12 minutes on one side then flip for 8 minutes on the other, or until the meat flakes easily.

Serve with the grilled fennel foil pack. I also made a foil pack of sliced potatoes with butter, spices, and shredded cheese. This made for a fish, veggie, and potato meal that was tasty and easy. The foil served as the plate. Cleanup was fast and easy. You can prep this recipe ahead of time and store in the cooler until you are ready to cook. This recipe is different, fancy, and fast!

Fish, its what’s for dinner!

Montana Grant

For more Montana Grant, catch him at www.montanagrantfishing.com.