Asparagus in orange sauce with skin-fried trout

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1,000 g asparagus, white
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 70 g butter
• 25 g sugar
• 150 ml white wine
• Salt
• ½ lemon(s)
• 5 sprigs of thyme
• 40 g butter
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 orange(s), untreated, zest and juice
• 80 ml stock from cooking asparagus
• 4 oranges
• 60 g butter, cold
• Salt
• chili powder
• 5 tbsp cream, whipped
• Parsley
• 4 trout fillets
• herbal salt
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 1 shallot(s)
• ½ garlic clove(s)
• salt and pepper
• Flour
• 40 ml olive oil with lemon
• 30 g butter
• 1 tbsp chervil, chopped, or herbs de Provence
• 1 tbsp parsley

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

Peel the asparagus and cut into approximately 3 cm long pieces. Melt the butter in a saucepan, fry the finely chopped shallots. Dust with sugar and let it melt. Deglaze with white wine. Add the asparagus, glaze, and add salt. Slice the peeled lemon and place it on the asparagus with the thyme sprigs. Cover. Cook the asparagus over medium heat until the desired consistency is reached. (I don’t like overcooked asparagus, so I only cook it for about 5 minutes.) Strain the resulting stock and set the asparagus aside. Fillet the oranges and set the fillets aside as a garnish for the sauce. Collect the resulting juice, squeeze the rest of the oranges, and also the orange used for the zest. Heat the butter for the sauce. Sauté the finely chopped shallots with the orange zest until browned. Then pour in the asparagus stock and orange juice. If you like more sauce, simply use more asparagus stock. Reduce the mixture by about half. Purée with a hand blender and mix with the cold butter. Season with salt and chili. Add the orange segments to the sauce. If you like, you can add some of the lemons and shallots that were cooked with the asparagus to the sauce (I think this gives it an extra kick). Fold in the whipped cream and add the parsley. Add the asparagus to the sauce. Heat briefly. Season the trout fillets on both sides with salt and pepper, then cover with the spices and the finely chopped garlic on the flesh side. If you don’t like chervil, or can’t get it, you can use Provençal herbs. These are a good alternative, and I like to use them. Heat the olive oil and fry the fillets skin-side down until crispy. Turn over at the very end and fry the fish and herbs very briefly on this side. Add the butter for flavor. Potatoes go well with this dish.