Posted on 04/30/2008 11:59:31 AM PDT by SJackson
INGREDIENTS: THE COMPOST PILE
Approximately 300 lbs. of fresh horse manure. (Appaloosa mare manure preferred, but any will do in a pinch. Try to avoid using cow manure as it will not heat up as well as horse and you may undercook the trout.)
One large bale of clean straw (50 to 100 lbs.).
Several cups of dolomitic limestone (to enhance the pHlavours).
A 20' x 20' area for mixing with access to plenty of fresh water.
THE TROUT
Three (3) speckled trout (preferably poached using a dry fly such as a Blue Dunn or a Dark Montreal, but you can substitute a wet fly (Mickey Finn), if necessary. Under no circumstances should you use trout caught with worms or hardware. You have to enter into the spirit of this dish.)
Fresh herbs of your choice (whatever is fresh in the garden -- I used tarragon, dill and chive flowers).
Piment d'Espelette (a dried red pepper, similar to paprika, from le pays Basque in northern Spain by the Pyrnees).
Coarse sea salt (preferably "Fleur de Sel de Camargue" which is gathered by hand from the salt marshes at the mouth of the Rhone in southern France).
Fresh, coarsely ground black pepper.
Plastic wrap, plastic bags and aluminum foil.
THE COMPOST HEAP
Preheat your compost pile to between 140 to 160 degrees F. This could take several weeks so you must plan ahead.
To build your compost pile, gather together the horse manure, straw, and limestone. Starting on the bare earth, layer the ingredients never more than six inches thick.
Begin with a layer of manure, then a sprinkle of lime, a layer of straw and then a sprinkle of earth to introduce the bacteria that will cause the pile to heat. Dampen this thoroughly, then start again until you have used up all the compost ingredients.
You should start to see results within 24 to 36 hours. Vapors will begin to rise and a wonderful aroma will waft amongst the garden rows. This is best experienced at sunrise (or at sunset with an Irish whiskey in hand).
After one week or so, you may want to turn and mix the compost pile placing the outside layers in the heart of the new pile. Be sure to water daily.
Once the internal temperature of the pile has reached 140 to 160 degrees F. you can proceed to the next step.
THE TROUT
Clean the trout and place on a cutting board. Score the outside of the trout every inch or so and rub with coarse salt. Sprinkle with the black pepper and the Piment d'Espelette inside and out. Set aside.
Wash and dry the herbs. Stuff the cavities of the trout with your herbs and sprinkle with chive flowers.
Wrap each trout in plastic wrap. Place all three together in one plastic bag and seal.
Wrap this plastic bag in aluminium foil. Place this foil package in another plastic bag.
Wrap this second bag in foil and then place once again in another plastic bag.
All these layers will prevent the juices from seeping out into your compost pile and contaminating it.
THE LONG, SLOW COOKING
Proceed to the pre-heated compost pile and dig down to the centre. You will probably need gloves as it will be much too hot to touch with your bare hands.
Place the plastic/foil wrapped fish in the centre of the pile and cover with active compost.
Pour yourself a glass of rosé and wait eighteen hours.
LE DÉNOUEMENT
Prepare a bed of fresh spinach to receive the trout. At the appointed meal time, gather your friends and proceed to the composting area to retrieve your "repas."
Open several more bottles of rosé and enjoy. [EDITOR'S NOTE: A small glass or three of iced Polish vodka, taken neat, is an added treat and keeps your taste buds freshened and the spirit willing.]
And don't forget to raise a glass in honour of Grampa Ray who made this all possible.
No, but I want to see this on “Throw Down with Bobby Flay”
Nothing with “ale, lager, malt, stout, cream, or pale” allowed in my fridge.
And nothing that is designed to have a piece of fruit stuck in the top. Thats just gay.
I am a Bud-Light kinda guy.
Carolyn
Bud-Light? What’s the point in drinking diet beer.
At least go with Budweiser Select.
As a farm boy who OFTEN had the “pleasure” of forking manure, whether in dunging out a steer stable, or loading the contents of a manure pile onto a manure spreader for putting on the fields; I can assure you that considerable heat is generated in the decomposition of manure when in a moist, tightly-packed pile.
In some of my flights of fancy I have thought about building a new home, and at one end of it, outside the foundation, having a 25 ft. square pit dug about 10 or 12 ft. deep in the ground, and running pipe from my hot water furnace out to the pit and through a series of coils of pipe I would have placed around the middle of the pit. I would pack the pit with leaves every early fall as soon as they come off the trees. The furnace would circulate the water through the pipes, out to the coils in the pit, picking up the heat from the decaying leaves and carrying it back to the house and through the radiators in the rooms in the house. The only cost to me would be a few cents a day for the electricity to run the circulator.........and removing the old leaves in the spring and putting in fresh ones in the fall. If I used solar panels, even the electricity would be free.
I’ve never done this, but ain’t I about half smart for just thinking of it?
Is the heat from horse manure measured in BTU’s or BUT’s?
How am I going to cook the corn in all this sh**?
Bud Light = Carbonated watered down horse pee.
My last Imperial Stout had an ABV of 14%
It’s like you drink Zima, and I drink good Single malt 40 year old Scotch.
;-)
Select actually has some malt in it, right? Not just a bunch of rice sugars?
"Ziiiiiiiiiimmmmaaaaaaa"
>>>>Bud-Light? What’s the point in drinking diet beer.<<<<<
Because on Saturdays its an all day affair....never getting drunk....just maintaining and having a beer opened at all times.
As much beer as I drink, I would be 400lbs if I drank anything besides light and would have a headache everyday.
I would also be broke if I bought as much of that fancy lager ale molassis as I do Bud-Light or Busch-Light.
Nope. Those are my brands... ain’t gonna change.... if all brands were free, I would still choose those brands.
I have cooked salmon in a dishwasher. It’s top-rack safe and you can do your undershorts at the same time.
What a crappy meal!
Zima?
Just thinking about Zima makes me want to sell my motorcycle and go shopping for a fabulous new purse to match my fingernails.
I sort of assumed they stopped making it. I tried it a couple of times a few years ago and kind of laughed at it both times. But maybe there’s a market for it.
>>>>I sort of assumed they stopped making it. I tried it a couple of times a few years ago and kind of laughed at it both times. But maybe there’s a market for it.<<<<<
The market is 21 yearold college girls and metrosexuals. it tastes alright...but its gay gay gay.
Hear... Hear... Zima is gayer than A$$less chaps and a leather cap.
I'll admit that in the winter time I can go for a darker or heavier beer, but most of the time I'll just save my money and stick with The Beast Light. (oh, and I have no problem with Big K soda vs. Pepsi or Coke)
Queasy Ping!
LOL
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