Fish in a flash: Mushroom-stuffed trout

Until recently, I had never tasted, much less cooked, trout. I suppose it's not surprising. Growing up, pretty much the only fish I would eat was fried--preferably clams, crab cakes, shrimp, or scallops.  I wasn't even that crazy about deep-friend flounder and was underwhelmed by lobster. Oh yes, I would eat shrimp or tuna salad, but that's pretty much just an excuse to freebase mayo.

Broiled fish was always one of my father's 'things.' Although my mother would willingly go to battle with me to try to make me consume spinach, steak, orange juice, and milk, whenever she made fish for my father (which typically consisted of taking a piece of plain white fish, throwing some butter, salt and paprika on it and sticking it under the broiler, which was how she cooked most things) she would make me something else.  Having a child like broiled fish was Beyond Hope. I think I remember tasting my father's fish once and going "EWWW."

When my father was away, this meant some of the rules of the house were relaxed. My mom wouldn't freak out if I wore shoes in the house, if I didn't pick up my toys immediately after playing with them, and she let me bring books and stuffed animals to the dinner table. I could scream and laugh to my heart's content.  She'd also make the one dish that wasn't considered a 'proper' meal by my father which I loved: she'd melt a pan of kassari Greek cheese on a baking sheet and we'd dunk Pillsbury crescent rolls into the gooey cheese.(No, my mother wasn't Greek and my father was--I know it makes no sense that she loved that specific kind of cheese more than he did, but it is true. My father had certain rules about what could be served at dinner, and even hamburgers and hot dogs barely made the cut.).

So, I guess I always got the message that broiled fish was somehow serious and 'not fun' food.  It was 'food when your father is home' type of food. However, as a grown-up, I've come to appreciate how healthy, low-calorie, and FAST fish can be.  Trout is a relatively inexpensive fish, and it cooks up as quickly as flounder or tilapia, yet to my palate, it has a much more complex flavor than either of its more popular cousins...this 'recipe' (if you want to call it that) requires minimal ingredients and can be made in less time than it takes to pull up to the drive-through to get a Filet-O-Fish at McDonald's.

Mushroom-stuffed trout
--serves 2---
Ingredients
2 3-4 ounce fillets of trout
1 tablespoon butter (for the pan)
10-12 ounces of white, sliced mushrooms

1 lemon
salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon thyme, rosemary, and granulated garlic (adjusted to your taste)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425F
2. Melt butter over medium heat, saute mushrooms until tender (approximately 5 minutes)
3. Squeeze lemon on the insides of the trout fillets.  Salt and pepper, followed by spices

4. Spoon cooked mushrooms onto 1/2 the side of each fillet, fold over. (There may be some mushrooms left over, depending on how thin you sliced them).
5. Bake for 10 minutes, until the fish is white and can be 'flaked' with a fork.