Hazelnut Crusted Trout with Corn on the Cob with Lime Butter and Roasted Garlic and Shallot Potato Soup with Cheesy Croutons

This filling meal was prepared for company and was aimed at fulfilling requests for all different flavors. The thick, creamy soup was warm and tantalizing, but would perhaps be more apt for the winter to beat a chill outside. While delicious, it was a little warm for a hot, DC summer day! Still, we managed to force ourselves to eat the blend of potato, roasted garlic, and shallot spooned up with freshly made cheese bread... Such a difficult life.

In addition to the soup I served up a traditional corn on the cob with a unique twist: lime butter. The citrus, summer flavor was the perfect touch to make the corn stand out. And finally, there was, of course, hazelnut crusted trout. The rich nuttiness worked very well with the light trout filets, producing a myriad of delicious flavors.

Roasted Garlic and Shallot Potato Soup with Cheesy Croutons
We'll start with the soup since it is definitely the most time consuming part of this meal! But look how much fun it is to eat it.... absolutely worth the trouble.

This recipe takes a while, but is relatively easy to follow. Just make sure that you time this out so that your entire meal is prepared on time. You'll start here with roasting the garlic (and then shallots as well) which takes 45 minutes in all. And then you'll need to let the garlic and shallots cool enough to peel them before moving to the next step - the sauteing. Use the roasting time as prep time, however, to get ahead. While the garlic/shallots are in the oven make sure that you wash and cut up the potatoes, chop some onion, prepare the broth if you are making it from bouillon cubes as I do, and chop up the Thyme. This way everything is ready to go!

Note: You can also prep for the rest of the meal. I also used this time to peel the corn and wrap it in wax paper to get it ready for cooking as well as to mix up the hazelnut mixture that would be going over the fish.

Once the potato has been boiling for about 10-15 minutes it is proably time to turn your attention to the fish and corn for a bit. Remember, if you end up finishing the soup first you can always keep it on a very low simmer for an extra 5-10 minutes to keep it warm while you catch everything else up to the eating point.

Keep in mind that while this recipe calls for blue cheese you should not feel that you need to use it. I am not a fan of that stinky cheese...(!) and instead decided to use some freshly grated Asiago. Mmmmm!

Hazelnut Crusted Trout
So let's get the rest of the meal going! The trout and the corn will probably take about the same time to prepare (15 minutes tops each) and can be cooked simultaneously. So get them going and then turn your attention back to your soup for some pureeing and milk-ifying.

This recipe is so easy that you do not even need my help! Hopefully while the soup was cooking you prepared the topping for the trout. If not, do so here. You are mixing together panko, hazelnuts, and some spices. While you can substitute regular bread crumbs if need be, I do not recommend it. The texture, crispness, and size of panko works much better with the hazelnuts than normal bread crumbs would. Also, make sure to buy crushed or chopped hazelnuts! If you buy them whole you'll be spending a lot of time pounding a bag full of hazelnuts with a rolling pin or hoping that your blender is super strong.

Simply coat the filets in the mixture, sprinkle any extra across the top of the filets when they are sitting on the pan, and bake!

Corn on the Cob with Lime Butter
Finally, let's get the vegetable going! This lime butter is a fantastic way to mix up regular old corn on the cob with a freshness it has not seen in a long time. If you already peeled your corn on the cob and wrapped it in wax paper, then you are ahead of the game. If not, do so now.

As mentioned before, I find it just as tasty to microwave corn on the cob and it's less work and time than boiling water. If you prefer you can still go the tarditional route, but the microwave truly does suffice here. Place the wax-wrapped cobs in the microwave and cook for 2.5 minutes per corn. (You can simply place them all in at once and multiply.) This way while it is cooking you can continue to keep an eye on your fish and soup!

Then all that is left is to mix up the lime butter. Although I try to use fake butter for everything, it does not microwave well. Fake butter splatters EVERYWHERE when you try to do that. So make sure if you do choose to use the "I can't believe it's not butter" that you cover the bowl well with saran wrap and barely microwave at all. Where a regular tablespoon of butter might take 30 seconds, the fake butter will take barely 10.

Note: There is actually a LIGHT version of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter with fewer calories and fat. Purchase that one to truly save.

Make sure that you only prepare this butter mixture right before eating. You want the butter to be hot when you spoon some over your cob!