Locavore Lake Trout with Blue Cheese Sauce

When I was in Northern Argentina years ago one of my favorite edible discoveries was river fish (from the Parana River) with "Roquefort" sauce It was on almost every restaurant menu, and was simply delicious.

I recently made my own version of the dish - Wisconsin style - proving that food can be both worldly and locavore at the same time.

For a starch, I roasted potatoes and carrots from the garden along with some local garlic and backyard herbs. We didn't get many carrots, but the few that we have are nice and sweet. You can tell is autumn - this was the first time in months that I've fired up the oven to roast anything.

This beauty came from one of the great lakes - the fish man I bought it from wasn't sure which one.... It's lake trout. Not expensive, but man it's tasty. It's so good to know that leaving the West Coast didn't mean I would be without good fish. This trout is just as fatty and flaky and melt-in-your-mouth delicious as Pacific salmon.


For the sauce, I started with a simple rue - flour and butter. You have to cook the rue for a few minutes to toast the flour - otherwise the sauce has a floury doughy taste.


To the rue I added some local milk and some Hook's blue cheese from Mineral Point.


The blue cheese flavor mellowed a bit and made a creamy, rich, delicious sauce.


Such a rich meal demands a salad. Local Tat-soi, red cabbage, pimento pepper and tomato. I love these crunchy autumn salads!


With salad out of the way, we moved on to the main course. I couldn't eat like this every night - the fatty fish plus the rich sauce made this an extremely high calorie meal - but man it's good every once in a while!

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Blue Cheese Lake Trout with Roasted Vegetables

For the Vegetables
Root Vegetables like potatoes, carrots, garlic, turnip, or rutabaga.
Fresh Herbs
Olive Oil

For the Fish
1 Big piece lake trout (or whatever fish is good and local)
2 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons flour
1 Cup milk
1 big hunk of blue cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425. Cut the vegetables to desired size. Chop the herbs and mix with the veggies. Coat everything in olive oil. Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

In the last 20-30 minutes of cooking, reduce the oven temp to 350. Rub some olive oil on the fish. and cook in the oven with the root veggies. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the flour and cook for a few minutes over medium heat, until the flour starts to brown. Add milk and whisk, heating to almost boiling. Add the cheese and whisk briskly until it's melted. Salt and pepper to taste.

When fish is done, pull everything out of the oven. Serve the sauce over both the vegetables and the roots.

Olive Oil
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