Trout! (Pan-fried)

I bought trout at the Atherton Mill Farmers Market last week. It was caught in NC and was sold to me in a ziploc bag. I have never bought or eaten or cooked trout before, but the guy asked what kind of fish I wanted and when I said I didn't know but I wanted something I could fry in a skillet, this is what he handed to me.
First of all, isn't it beautiful? Fish are amazing to me sometimes, with their little sparkly rainbow scales. Like that kids book, right? Almost too pretty to eat. Except...not really.

For all my years as a fish-eating vegetarian, I know approximately one way to cook one kind of fish. I can pan fry salmon. That's it. So I wasn't entirely sure what to do with two whole trout, but I figured if I messed up the first one I'd still have a shot with the second. So I did what I always do when unsure how to cook something...I fried it in buttr!!

Pan-fried Trout

a fish (1 lb seems to be two fishes worth of fillet)
flour
salt and pepper
butter

Rinse the fish, and use a sharp knife to separate the two halves of the body from each other if they're still connected (mine were). Pat dry with a paper towel.

Mix a half-cup or so of flour with salt and pepper on a big plate. Dredge the fish in the flour on both sides.

Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet until it's bubbling, but not starting to brown. Put the fish in the pan, skin side down, and cook for a couple minutes (3? 4?) Flip the fish over with a pair of tongs and fry on the other side. Ideally, you only flip it once. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes (max!) to cook through. Yum.

Done and done. The result? The absolute best piece of fish I think I have ever eaten. Like, seriously. Not as the result anything fancy I did, but because I swear the little guy must have been swimming around the day before. I'm never buying fish at the grocery story again. I'm absolutely serious. If you're going to eat food, why eat the crap version?