Anyone Out There Speak French?

Tonight I faced a couple of obstacles.  First, I had to figure on dinner for one, as The Bride is out of town.  This meant that I had to scale down the recipe.  Second, I had decided to cook trout, something I had never had and knew very little about.  I stopped by Hyde Park Fish Market because I had seen trout there numerous times.  When I arrived, I looked in their display case and realized that they had not just one, but two different types of trout: white rainbow trout and ruby trout.  I asked the fishmonger to describe them to me, and he said that the biggest difference was in the sweetness and oiliness, with the ruby higher in both.  I was intrigued to learn that the ruby trout was higher in Omega-3s and fatty acids.  The Diet that I am on requires me to eat oily fish at least three times a week, so I opted for the ruby.  At Kroger I came across my third concern: they were out of red onions.  I did notice, however, that they had some at the salad bar, so I grabbed some from there.  Thus, I had everything I needed for the Smoked Trout With French Lentil Salad on page 284.

Fourth concern: The Bride recently had a contact of hers in France come to visit, and he brought us some nice olive oils from Provence!  I am super pumped about them!  My concern is that I don't speak French in the slightest.  I gathered that the one I picked out (on the far left) is extra virgin, but can anyone out there tell me the differences between these?  Maybe my "olive guy" Sean might have some insight?  If so, could someone leave a comment with an explanation?

With the marinade made, I spread it over the trout.

Fifth concern: I've also never cooked lentils.  In fact, I can't tell you the last time I ate lentils.  I didn't know to they were supposed to taste, what kind of texture is best, how to cook them, etc.  I pretty much just followed the directions on the package, but I think there were just slightly overcooked.  The had the texture of canned lima beans, which I was less than thrilled about, but they had the advantage of tasting significantly better than lima beans. The rest of the salad came together pretty quickly, and just needed a quick mixing in the bowl.

The trout is also simple in that it requires indirect heat and soaked wood chips to create nice smoke.  It started with a little smoke...

and finished with a LOT of smoke.

Tongs started to tear the fish apart, so I had to run inside very quickly to get a spatula.  It looked good!

And so here was my dinner!

It must have smelled terrific to this guy, as he refused to leave me alone.

Overall, it turns out that I like trout.  It is not my favorite, but it doesn't taste at all like I had perceived it would.  For some reason I had built up in my mind something gamey and just "fishy" but this turned out to be far more subtle than I had anticipated.  The marinade is nice, has a nice velvety factor, and does not overpower the fish at all.  It also compliments the lentil salad well.  There are still one to two other trout recipes in The Guide, and now I am less hesitant to use them.  Thanks, Weber!

Oh, one last problem, I dropped my camera the other day, and it is in the shop.  For now, I am using my cell phone and emailing myself the pictures.  It's a hassle.