[edgy country music] - [Narrator] Coming up on, "The Key Ingredient."

We head for the hills for a soggy, but happy lesson on trout farming in Western North Carolina.

- [Fisherman] Hey, we got 300 on the dot in these two barrels.

- Are you really good at that counting gumballs in the jar contest thing?

- [Narrator] I share my scrumptious trout recipes.

- I love lemon with fish, obviously for that little bit of hit of brightness - [Narrator] And a cook along with Star Chef Cleophus Hethington, as he shows us his favorite way to prepare this delicious fish.

- [Hethington] This is just gonna open the fish up for a more flavor and allow it to cook faster also.

- Okay.

- [Narrator] That's next.

I'm Sheri Castle.

I write cookbooks.

I write for food magazines.

I cook, I teach, and I collect stories.

And my favorite stories are the ones behind our best loved home recipes.

- [Sheri] Can you eat just rice like this?

- [Other Woman] You can try.

- All right, here we go.

Oh, that's awesome.

- [Narrator] I will go out and explore from the ground up, the best ingredients that go into some of our most beloved family recipes.

It's all about the food, the flavors, and finding the key ingredient.

[upbeat guitar music] Today we are headed to the mountains of Western North Carolina in Waynesville, where three generations of one family have worked for over 70 years to make a modern trout farm production.

Trout from Sunburst is found on many fine menus and tables across the Southeast.

Today, the family's gonna teach me how they make sure their trout is best in show.

- [Ben Eason] Alright, Sheri, looks like you're all set to go harvest some fish.

- So is this really part of it or are y'all punking me right out of the gate that I have to wear this?

- With the waders and everything?

- Yeah.

- No, it's, it's required.

- All right, all right.

- I mean, you, you could go without the waders, but you're definitely gonna get pretty wet if you do so.

- No, let's do this.

All right.

I'm hooking up parts here.

You let me know if I miss anything.

- Okay.

- And then this, this is, this is, so if I go under, I float to the top.

- That's so you float to the top.

- Okay.

- And we can, we can get you out.

- All right.

- Yup.

[catchy bass music] - We're here - [Ben] We're here.

- So these are the raceways, you call 'em?

- These are the raceways that my grandfather built, you know, and probably around 1968.

- Uh-huh.

- The original construction was 1963 and it was just dirt bottom ponds initially.

And he came in and decided he needed something a little more efficient with direct water flow.

So he came in and built the raceways about five years.

- And so and so it's moving water, 'cause fish want moving water.

- Trout, especially in the very, very aggressive moving water.

A quick chain turnover 'cause they need a lot of oxygen.

Yeah.

- So now do we get in the water or do we say, "here fishy fish."

- Well you're, you're ready.

You're, - I didn't, do this for nothing, - You got this stuff on that's right.

- It's not just for the fashion.

All right.

- Yeah.

- Lead God and direct me friend.

- Okay.

- Let's do this.

- Alright.

The baby fish we buy from a, a contracted hatcher.

- [Sheri] Uh-huh.

- [Ben] A hatchery that's, you know, about an hour, hour and a half away from, from here.

- Uh-huh.

- And we buy 20,000, 20,000 fish per month from him.

- Wow.

- And you know, since we grow them to about two pounds, that's gonna give us about 40,000 pounds by the time those fish get up to that size.

- Yeah.

Okay.

- Yep.

So this will be the, the one we're harvesting from.

You got it?

- Now.

- Okay.

- Can you hold onto the ladder and to me a little bit too.

All right.

Wow.

- [Ben] And she's in.

All right.

- So is this screen in a fixed position.

- Right now it is.

We've got it wedged in.

Normally we'll go up, get one up, bring 'em all down, but we've got enough already caught up.

- The point of this is, this is like a fish scooper.

It's like herding 'em in.

Are we herding fish?

- Kinda.

Yes.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- But you kind of use your feet at the bottom.

- Uh-huh.

- Can sort of feel the bottom?

We'll push it along.

- Okay.

That is amazing.

- [Ben] We have ice in the barrels - [Sheri] Uh-huh - [Ben] And now, and we've used this little stick that's got lines on it.

So this bottom line, - [Sheri] Uh-huh - That's just the wa, you feel the water up to that bottom line, and then each line on the stick is 50 pounds of fish.

- [Sheri] Okay.

- [Ben] All right.

So, we got the barrels all to that bottom line of ice and water.

- [Sheri] This is enough for all three barrels?

- [Ben] It should be.

- [Sheri] Okay.

- [Ben] We're hoping so.

- [Sheri] Whoo.

Here we are.

- [Ben] Yeah.

- We were about as wet on top of the water as the fish were under the water, weren't we?

- I know, I know.

- So you take 'em in the barrel, they can stay in there for how long?

- As long as the ice is not fully melted so that the, the ice is meant to start cooling them down immediately to keep the meat as fresh as possible.

- Yeah.

- Once we start to process.

I mean, as long as we put enough ice, and depending on the weather outside.

I mean, they're good for at least a good hour.

- All right.

So I'm going with the fish.

Where are we headed?

- [Ben] Okay, so we're gonna, I'm gonna get back in that same truck and I'm gonna drive to Waynesville to the processing plant.

- [Sheri] Wow.

On their way to plates.

- Yep.

On the way to the plates.

- All right.

Let's go do it.

- [Ben] All right.

- [Sheri] Alright.

Our fish are in the barrel.

And now what, what's going happen to us?

- [Ben] Fish harvested in the barrel on ice.

And now we're gonna dump 'em in this, this net right here, which is automatic, you know, it's electric, it pulls 'em up, and then we'll be hoisting them over to the start of the processing line.

- [Sheri] All right.

- [Ben] So here we go.

And so now that we're in a processing plant, you know, I, I kind of take care of the fish of the farm and everything.

And that my brother, this is Wes.

He is over the, - Hey.

- Nice to meet you.

- Thanks, it's good to be here.

- I'm gonna give you a hairnet here.

- Oh, I'm so honored.

Yes.

Let me do the right thing here.

Mm hmm.

All right.

So once I'm following the fish, I'm being passed off just like the fish from you to you, right?

- Yep.

- Just goes right over the top of your head there.

- I don't think.

Yes, I've had a lot of garments from you guys today.

- [Sheri] So what's going on here?

This is.

- [Wes] This is a trimming table here.

- Trimming table.

- Yeah.

- And so are they literally just trimming the excess pieces off?

- The fillets have already come through this fillet machine.

- Yeah.

- Just separated it into the two halves.

And another set of blades has shaved the ribs off.

- Okay.

- [Wes] It's less than a hundred percent.

So this here is where we're gonna shave off any ribs that the machine missed, clean up that tailpiece, which can be a little bit jagged.

- Uh-huh - Make it look nice and neat for the restaurant or grocery store.

- [Sheri] I have had the best time.

I cannot thank you enough for your hospitality, - [Wes] Your welcome.

- [Sheri] this whole trout education.

Getting to see everything.

This, this has been really special.

Now, I can't help but notice here, maybe I get to take some home.

- Yeah, we've got some goodies for you.

Got some fresh, whole dressed fish.

These were harvested fresh outta the water 30 minutes ago.

- Amazing.

I think I recognize him.

- Yeah, you know that guy.

- Well, I tell you what, I can't thank you enough, but I will tell you, if you ever come to my house, I'll make you something.

I'll cook dinner for you.

All right?

- That's a deal.

- All right, thank you so much.

Tell Ben I say hey, all right?

- Thanks for being here.

- Thanks.

Bye.

- Take care.

- [Sheri] I am going to make one of my favorite trout dishes.

One of my favorite fish dishes.

I'm using gorgeous fillets of rainbow trout.

What I have here are two rainbow trout fillets.

They're boneless, and I have them soaking in milk because that milk is going to restore that fresh caught taste.

Now, if you caught your own fish, you can skip that.

But if you are buying fish, this milk is gonna bring back that babbling brook sort of freshness.

Now, what I have in this dish right here is some cornmeal and a little bit of flour, and I am going to add some Old Bay.

Old Bay isn't just for crab cakes, it is delicious on, on this any kind of fish or seafood dish that I'm just gonna stir these things together.

I'm going to lift my trout out of the milk, then I'm gonna move it over to my dredge, and I'm gonna hit these up with some salt and pepper.

So all I am doing now is as I'm sprinkling this mixture onto my fish.

So, I'm doing the same process to my second fillet.

You know, fillets that are thin like this are almost a convenience food.

They cook very quickly, making this a super simple, super easy recipe for a weeknight.

Now, I put a little oil in this pan, just enough to slick the bottom, but I'm also going to add some butter.

So this is it.

I'm gonna take my fish fillets and lay them in the pan flesh side down.

And I am going to let this cook until they are deep golden brown, about three minutes.

And while my fish cooks, I can't wait to tell you about this astonishingly delicious, gorgeous, creamy, fresh corn side dish, that's the perfect pairing.

- [Narrator] This is one of my favorite things to do with sweet, juicy, fresh corn on the cob.

Cut the top half of the kernels off the cobs into a large bowl.

Use the back of the knife or a spoon to scrape the remaining kernels and starchy liquid from the cobs.

Warm the butter in a pan until it foams.

Add the flour and whisk until smooth.

Whisk in the cream, stirring the corn, sugar, salt, and a splash of milk.

Simmer until the corn is just cooked through about five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add a splash more milk if needed.

Season with pepper and taste for salt.

Keep warm over very low heat.

If it gets too thick before serving, stir in a little more milk.

You won't find a better side dish for this corn meal crusted trout.

- Isn't this corn easy?

You know, it's what some people would call old-fashioned cream corn, but I think it tastes almost like a fresh corn risotto.

You know, I have a lifelong association of corn and trout.

When I was a little girl, long before I started school, my sweet granddaddy would take me fishing up in the mountains.

We would go to a branch of the south fork of the New River, and we would fish, and instead of giving me fishing lures or ties, he would put a darling old red and white bobber on the end of my line and use corn as the bait.

Now the last thing I have to do here is put a little bit of lemon.

I love lemon with fish, obviously, for that little bit of hit of brightness.

I also love lemon with fresh tomatoes, and that's all this pretty little part in the middle is.

I took some cherry tomatoes, cut 'em in half, put a little herbs, chives, salt and pepper, and it makes almost like a relish for this great dish.

Now, I cannot wait another minute to taste this.

It's an unbelievable combination of textures.

Again, you've got the crunchy fish, you've got that creamy corn, you've got that pop, a fresh tomato.

Friends, this is a dish that started in my childhood that I'm gonna make for the rest of my days.

You're gonna love it.

- [Narrator] When it comes to cooking trout, Cleophus Hethington has some favorite ways to show off this fish.

- Gonna spoon some of that compote with the gooseberries on top.

- [Narrator] He enjoys tracing food ways from around the world and incorporating them into remarkable dishes in his culinary scenes in Miami, Atlanta, and Asheville.

Today he shows us how to make an impressive whole trout with a roasted pepper compote.

- Well, hey, thank you for welcoming me to Asheville.

I'm so excited.

So you might have heard, I spent yesterday in waders in water at Sunburst Trout Farm, and I brought some fish, and you're gonna show me what you like to do with fish.

What are we making today?

- So, we're gonna do my take on Jamaican Escovitch fish.

- All right, so show me first thing, do we begin with the fish?

- Yes.

- Okay.

- So, we'll begin with the fish.

- So this is a whole fish, but it has the bones.

It's been gutted.

It's just ready to use.

- From there.

I, you know, I'll usually just take the fish, Uh, we'll score it.

- [Sheri] Uh-huh.

And you're scoring just through the skin, right?

Just grazing it?

- Yeah.

This is just gonna allow the, the flesh to cook faster.

- [Sheri] So, about three or four slashes?

- [Hethington] Yep.

- [Sheri] Okay, and you're gonna do both sides?

- [Hethington] Yes.

- [Sheri] Okay.

I can, I can get behind that.

All right.

So that you just do your slashes.

And then what comes next?

- [Hethington] I'm gonna grab this pan.

- Uh-huh.

Can I hold that for you?

- Yes.

- Okay - We'll sit that on there.

- Okay.

- We'll wipe this down a little.

And so I'm from there.

We'll just sprinkle, I always go oil first, because you know, naturally if you're gonna season it.

- Oh, that's pretty generous too.

So it's really, really moisturizing the flesh.

And that's just a vegetable oil?

- Yes, just a neutral oil, you know, a nice generous amount of salt.

- [Sheri] Uh-huh.

So that's gonna give us flavor.

And it's gonna give us a little crunch too, isn't?

- Yeah.

It's gonna help crisp up that skin.

- Uh-huh And that's it.

So now it's ready to go in the oven?

- Yeah, usually I go like 500 degrees.

- So super hot oven.

Preheated.

Ready to rock and roll.

Okay, ready for the oven?

- Yeah.

- All right.

- So.

- So, now we're gonna make this gorgeous compote.

And a compote is just like a warm relish of fruits and vegetables that's gonna go add color and brightness and flavor and texture to our gorgeous fish, right?

- Yeah.

We'll start off with a little bit of oil.

- Uh-huh.

And it can be the same oil we use for the fish, right?

- Yeah.

- Just some sort of neutral oil, enough to gloss the pan.

- And then first thing we go in with is, you know, we have some caramelized onions here.

- Okay.

So while these warm up, what's our next ingredient?

- Next is these confit garlic.

- And confit garlic is just roasted garlic, right?

- Yeah.

- [Sheri] So what comes after our garlic?

- So next, after the garlic, we have these roasted red peppers.

- Uh-huh - [Hethington] No, it doesn't look all that great, but that char that we get from just roasting it over our open flame, it just, you know, bringing out all the, it's gonna remove that skin, that film that's over it, and then it all just brings out the natural sugars of the red pepper.

- May I peel that for you?

- Yeah, please.

- All right.

- [Hethington] Once you get all that off, you know, now you see like it, it doesn't look as bright and red as it used to.

- [Sheri] And then what are you gonna do with it?

- [Hethington] And then we're just gonna bring it over here and I'm gonna, you know, just give it a, a nice julienne, and then we'll just go back in into our pan with.

- The smells so good already.

And what's our next secret magic ingredient?

- From there, we will add in the palm oil.

Then we're just gonna add a nice little heaping spoon.

- [Sheri] Oh, that, that's beautiful.

Look at the color on that, looks like pumpkin puree.

- [Hethington] From there we'll add in a little bit of sherry vinegar, and then we'll go with the spice blend.

- Uh-huh.

- And so then we'll just, you know, we'll sprinkle and we add the spice blend last, you know, just as we add the palm oil last, because we don't want any of those spices to get burned.

Lastly, we have some.

- [Sheri] Gooseberries.

- [Hethington] Gooseberries.

So.

- So are we done?

Are there other magic touches for this?

- No, I mean, this is pretty much it, far as the cooking process.

I do like to always have, you know, a fresh green pepper and a red pepper to go ahead and julienne and add into it, once we finish, we add those in there.

We're not really trying to cook these, you're just trying to heat 'em through a little bit.

You know, that's pretty much it.

- [Sheri] Oh, would you look at that?

How beautiful.

- [Hethington] Yeah, that color - [Sheri] I love.

Yeah, I love what it does to the tail.

- [Hethington] Yeah, so you know, like I say, we.

- [Sheri] Oh, look how easily that release is.

That's really.

- [Hethington] Yeah, that's the important part of putting the oil in the, the salt component there.

So we'll just go right down on there and we're gonna next just go ahead and dress it with the the compo, you know, and we're just gonna spoon some of that compote with the gooseberries on top.

- [Sheri] And so some of that gorgeous sauce and oil's gonna go down in those slits too.

- [Hethington] Yeah.

Absolutely.

So.

- [Sheri] That the color on that is amazing.

So do we get to taste this?

- Yeah.

- Do I get to benefit from your labors here?

All right, let's go in here.

Down from the top.

- [Hethington] Yeah.

- [Sheri] Look at how beautiful and flaky and moist and gorgeous this is.

All right, here we go.

What I love about that is it's not complicated, but it's not simple.

Everything on that plate has brought something to the party, but yet despite the boldness of the color and the spice, it's a trout dish.

- [Hethington] Yeah.

Simple.

Straightforward.

Not overly complicated at all.

- Oh my goodness.

All right, back to 'em.

Got quality control here.

[Hethington laughs] - [Sheri] Thanks, fish.

You know, as much as I love trout, it is possible that my very favorite way to enjoy trout is hot smoked trout.

And today I'm gonna show you an amazing recipe that starts with a potato leak soup, and then the star of that soup is a hot smoked trout and bacon butter.

What I have here is a couple of sticks of butter that has been softened to room temperature.

We're adding things to the butter to give it color and crunch and good looks and tremendous flavor.

Those were some scallions.

And then I have a little bit of chopped fresh dill and a big spoonful of my good friend, whole grain mustard, which is gonna add flavor, it's gonna give texture to this butter, and it's gonna give that pop of those mustard seeds.

So I just take a fork and start working these things together.

You really wanna get in there and make sure that everything is fully incorporated.

Now that this is nicely mixed, I'm gonna add the first of two key ingredients for this.

The first is some beautiful bacon.

Listen to that crunch.

It is so delicious.

And then our hero of the day, this is smoked trout.

Now there's skin on this.

No problem.

I love this.

It's as easy as peeling a banana.

And this is now boneless.

So all I'm gonna do is I'm going to make big crumbles, big pieces of this trout in there.

So just a couple more coarse crumbles.

And then I am going to gently fold this in because I like these big pieces of bacon and these big pieces of trout, so that when we use them in our recipe, there is no doubt that this is a trout recipe.

Now that our butter is combined, I'm gonna put it in an attractive bowl that is pretty enough to take to the serving table.

Now this is going to have to refrigerate and get chilled.

So let me get this all in here.

Take my fingers, and now I'm gonna put this in the fridge because it needs to be fully chilled before it goes into that amazing potato and leak soup.

And I'm going to show you how I started that recipe, next.

- [Narrator] Warm the butter in a large pot over moderate heat.

Then stirring the chopped leaks in a couple big pinches of salt, which helps the leaks release their moisture and soften.

Cook the leaks until tender, which takes about eight minutes, stirring occasionally.

They shouldn't brown, so lower the heat if necessary.

Next, add the potatoes, more salt and the stock.

That might sound like a lot of salt, but this is a big pot of potatoes, and I want them to absorb the salt while they cook.

I've learned that it's hard to catch up on that seasoning if I wait until the end.

I'm using homemade chicken stock because the more flavorful the stock, the better the soup.

If you don't have a stash of homemade stock, use store bought chicken bone broth.

Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat, partially cover the pot and let it simmer until the potatoes are very tender and just beginning to fall apart, about 25 minutes.

- You know, this is such a simple soup.

It comes together so quickly, but it has great flavor.

But I'm not done yet with finishing and adding a few more spices.

The first thing I'm gonna do is put in a little bit of dry mustard, and then I'm going to add a little bit of ground nutmeg.

And last but not least, a little bit of cayenne.

Now, I want this soup to be a puree, so I am going to use an immersion blender.

You know, as I'm doing this, I can tell this is a little bit thick.

I'm not making mashed potatoes, I'm making a great soup.

So I'm gonna thin this down with a little bit of milk.

You could also use some heavy cream or even some good tart buttermilk.

You know, I think I've got this.

It's pretty much smooth, but there's a couple of little chunks of potatoes, and I like that texture.

So make it as chunky or as smooth as you like it.

Now the last thing I need to do is, is I need to taste this to make sure that there's enough salt.

And there probably is, remember how we added that salt early on with the leaks and the potatoes so that they could cook and absorb that?

Well, I think we're here, but gotta taste it to make sure.

That's really spot on.

You can tell it's well seasoned, but not over the top.

And then I'm gonna put in quite a bit of black pepper.

That is gorgeous.

So now, all we lack is our smoked trout and bacon butter.

Oh yeah, look at this.

It's got color, it's got that great shape and texture.

You could almost taste it before you do taste it, but that's what comes next.

This is what I'm going to do.

I'm going to ladle up some of this amazing soup, and when I get a good, I don't know, maybe one more ladle.

I am going to top this with a big spoonful of our gorgeous trout, bacon butter.

Put it right in there.

It's so good.

But here's what I do.

I take little bits of this and I start pressing the soup over it and bringing it down so that the trout and the bacon and all of that good stuff starts combining with the potato soup.

Let me dig in.

Oh friends, oh friends, I wish you could have some of this with me.

Let me tell you about this.

The star of all of this is that hot smoked trout.

Then you get that bit of smokey bacon, you get the crunch of the scallions, you get all of those herbs.

This is a whole dinner party in one soup bowl.

This is amazing, and I just know you're gonna love it.

- [Narrator] We should always keep our fresh fish cool, even cooler than the inside of our fridge.

Ever notice how fish markets always keep their fresh catch on ice?

That's our goal.

And it's easy.

Fill a large shallow container halfway with ice, preferably crushed.

The fish monger will often give you a bag of crushed ice, if you ask nicely.

Rinse the fish fillets or cleaned whole fish and blot them dry with paper towels.

With clean, dry hands, arrange the fish in a single layer in zip top plastic bags.

Use more than one if needed.

It's important to not stack the fish, but you can stack the containers.

Place the bag in a second shallow container, spread another layer of crushed ice on top and sit at a top the ice.

We want to keep the fish ice cold, but not directly on the ice, so that they won't sink into the water, as the ice melts.

The bag also keeps the fish from drying out.

Then pop the whole thing into the refrigerator for up to three days.

But remember, sooner is always better when it comes to fresh fish.

[catchy guitar music] - So, the one that just fell off, is he free?

Is he gonna swim with Nemo, now?

- [Narrator] It's been great to get up close and personal and in the water with one of my favorite ingredients to cook with.

With its mild flavor and delicate texture, freshwater trout is a great choice for the key ingredient in your next recipe.

[upbeat pop string music] For all the recipes from the show, visit our website.

It's where you'll find the key ingredient for a perfect time in the kitchen.