Grilled Campfire Trout Dinner

May 2023. Spring in Memphis, and I am 64, watching the azaleas and dogwoods bloom along my neighborhood walk, the annual resurrection that makes the winter worth surviving. The smoker wakes up in spring the way the whole city wakes up — slowly, with a stretch, then fully, with purpose.

Tyrone came over for dominoes, bringing his competitive spirit and his inability to play without cheating, and the evening was full of the brotherly banter that is our love language.

Baked beans on the smoker — navy beans soaked overnight, simmered with onion, brown sugar, molasses, mustard, and my BBQ sauce, then smoked uncovered at 250 for two hours. The hickory settles into the sauce and transforms ordinary beans into something that belongs at any table, any gathering, any moment when people need to be fed and comforted and reminded that simple food, made with patience, is the best food there is.

Another week in the book. Another seven days of tending fires — the one in the smoker, the one in the marriage, the one in the family, the one in the church. Each fire needs something different: wood, attention, food, faith. But the tending is the same for all of them: show up, add what's needed, wait patiently, trust the process. Low and slow. Always. Low and slow.

That week — the dominoes with Tyrone, the smoker, the baked beans settling into something transcendent — reminded me that the best cooking always comes back to fire and patience. I’d had campfire trout on my mind since a fishing trip the previous fall, and after a week of tending slow fires, I wanted to cook something that honored that same unhurried rhythm: whole fish, open flame, nothing to hide behind. If you can tend a smoker, you can tend a campfire. It’s the same prayer, just a different altar.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 whole rainbow trout, cleaned and butterflied (about 12 oz each)
3 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 lemons, one sliced thin, one cut into wedges for serving
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
4 medium red potatoes, halved
2 ears of corn, husked and cut into thirds
Heavy-duty aluminum foil

Instructions

Prepare the fire. Build a campfire or preheat a charcoal grill to medium-high heat. You want glowing coals with a steady, even heat — not roaring flames. Let it settle before you cook.
Parboil the potatoes. At home or at camp over the fire, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the halved potatoes and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until just barely fork-tender. Drain and set aside.
Make the foil packets. Tear four large sheets of heavy-duty foil. Place one trout open-faced on each sheet. Drizzle the inside of each fish with olive oil or melted butter. Stuff each cavity with a few garlic slices, two or three lemon slices, a sprig of thyme, a sprig of rosemary, and a pinch of parsley. Season generously inside and out with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.
Add the vegetables. Tuck the parboiled potato halves and corn pieces alongside each trout on the foil. Drizzle everything with a little more olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Fold the foil over and crimp tightly to seal each packet.
Cook over the fire. Place the foil packets directly on the grill grate over medium-high coals. Cook for 10 minutes, then carefully flip the packets and cook another 10 to 12 minutes, until the fish flakes easily and the vegetables are tender. Use tongs and be patient — don’t rush the fire.
Open and serve. Carefully tear open the foil packets away from you to release the steam. Scatter the remaining fresh parsley over each packet and serve immediately with lemon wedges alongside. Eat right from the foil if you like — the less fuss, the better the meal.

Nutrition (per serving)

Grilled Campfire Trout Dinner — Tending Every Fire the Same Way