Hoity Toity Fish? Not Really!

The back story . . .

Last week a friend of mine suggested we cook some fish. We began our discussion of how to cook said fish and she mentioned that she had once used parchment paper pouches to cook fish with good results. This got my attention, to say the least! 

Now, I am a huge fan of using parchment paper for baking, but I have always been a bit intimidated by the use of parchment paper in cooking other foods. My reluctance, I believe, comes from the proper name of this cooking method, which is "En Papillote".  In my mind, anything with a French name like that must be terribly difficult or time consuming or super expensive or at the very least doused in butter or cream!

My friend is one of those gutsy individuals who is willing to dive head first into any challenge, yet tells me she could use some help with her cooking skills. So, if she has tried this I ought to as well! I decided right then and there, that it was time to climb up on that horse and RIDE! Let me say, this turned out to be a very tame ride, indeed! 

So, here we go . . .

I assembled my ingredients and cut my veggies. I really like veggies, so I chose summer squash, carrots and red pepper. These are cut in julienne strips. Fish cooks quickly, so veggies need to be in small pieces otherwise they will not be cooked when the fish is done. The green stuff is fresh dill. You could use dried dill, just not as much. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. A hot oven is needed to create some steam to cook the fish and the vegetables.

Looks good already!

Tear off a piece of parchment paper approximately square. You will need one piece per fish fillet. Fold it in half and open it back up. Lay the vegetables on the bottom half of the paper and sprinkle on some salt and pepper, just a bit. Lay the fish, I used cod, on top of that and drizzle on a teaspoon or so of olive oil, a touch more salt and pepper, the lemon slices and finally the dill.

How's this for a stack of beauty???

Fold the top half of the paper over and starting at one corner fold a little triangle and fold it over again. Move over just a bit and make another little triangle fold, overlapping with your previous folded section. Don't think too much about this, just do it. Keep folding little sections and overlapping them, just sort of zoop zoop and you are over to the other side before you know it. Look at my picture and you will see it isn't a pretty package, but the idea is to seal the edges, keeping the steam and cooking juices in the package. Put the package on a baking sheet, one that has a rim just in case a bit of juice leaks out.

Crimp the edges to seal in the moisture.

If you have several packages use a larger pan, or use two. Consider having each person in the family make their own package. Use whatever vegetables you like or have on hand or skip the vegetables all together, but if you do, make a salad or roast your veggies separately. Just make sure you enjoy some vegetables at every meal. 

Bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of your fish fillets. Mine was small, about 4 ounces and relatively thin so I cooked it for 10 minutes.

When it is done, take it out, and carefully open the package. Discard the lemon and dill. Carefully lift it out onto a plate with a spatula. Spoon or pour some of the juice over the fish if you want. 

I really do like vegetables!

Cod is a very mild tasting fish, so the lemon and dill were great accents . Orange roughy, salmon, halibut or lots of other choices would work well, too. A fresh sprig of dill would have made a nice garnish on this plate, fancying up the fish a bit.

Okay! I got on the horse and rode like a pro! It wasn't the rodeo ride I expected or even a trail ride to the bottom of the canyon, but more like a gentle mosey down a shady trail, one I am willing and anxious to do all over again. Give it a whirl and let me know how it goes. Enjoy!