‘poisson en papillotte’ or ‘fish in parchment’

A few years ago, I landed upon a recipe for fish in parchment or ‘poisson en papillotte’ as the French call it.  It was one of those recipes that almost wasn’t, it was so easy.  Though any fish would do, I opted for halibut and knew at once I had rediscovered an old friend. 

Parchment effectively seals in moisture, essentially poaching the fish in its own juices.  The method couldn’t be easier or more versatile and is a whole lot healthier, yet no less flavorful.  My seven year old daughter loves to make her own ‘packet’ and this is easily one of her favorite meals.  Although the recipe below showcases halibut, the same preparation would work for a wide array of fish and vegetable pairings.  

yields 4 servings
 

ingredients

rice
3 cups short grain brown rice
6 cups water
2 – 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 – 1/2 teaspoons salt

fish + vegetables
16 ounces fresh halibut, tilapia or salmon, as desired, skin removed
8 medium-sized sea scallops, optional
12 medium-sized wild shrimp or prawns, optional
1 bunch carrots, peeled and sliced in 1/4 inch rounds
2 medium crowns broccoli, florets cut in bite-sized pieces
2 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut in 1/2 inch pieces
12 crimini mushrooms, quartered, stems trimmed
2 –3 leeks, white and pale green parts only, sliced in 1/4 inch rings
1 lemon, cut in 4 wedges 
1 bunch fresh dill

seasoning
2 – 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
crisp white wine such as chardonnay or pinot gris, nothing too fruity
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
coarse sea salt

4 large sheets parchment paper (15 x 20)

 

directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

rice
Place water, rice, butter and salt in a medium pot with a lid.  Bring to a boil.  Stir once.  Cover and reduce heat to simmer.  Cook for 40 – 50 minutes.  When water is absorbed, remove from heat and fluff with a fork.  

fish + vegetables
Rinse fish, scallops and shrimp with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.  Divide the fish into four servings.  Set aside.

Place the prepared vegetables in separate bowls.  Be sure to rinse the leeks well to remove all sand and grit. 

Place a piece of fish, off center, on the right side of the parchment, leaving a 3-inch border to the right.  Surround the fish with two scallops, three prawns and a handful each of carrots, broccoli, zucchini and mushrooms.  Place a sprig of dill over the center.  Scatter leeks over all.  Dot with one tablespoon butter, drizzle with olive oil, add a few splashes of white wine and season with coarse salt.

Fold one side of the parchment over the fish and vegetables, so that the corners meet.  Fold over the edges several times to seal the packet.  If personalizing the ingredients in each packet, use a sharpie to write initials on one of the folded-over edges. 

 

Place the packets, folded edges up, on a rimmed baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees.  Carefully tear open the packets to retain the fragrant juices inside.  Pour fish and juices directly over a bed of brown rice and serve while hot.

salmon nicoise

Serves 4

1 1/2 – 2 lbs wild king salmon filets
(I recommend looking for filets with plenty of white marbling as the fat is good for you and adds flavor and moisture to the fish)
1 1/2 lbs fresh haricots verts or green beans 
1 pint organic cherry tomatoes
1 large handful nicoise olives
1 small bunch organic basil
1/2  large lemon
unsalted butter
canola or extra light olive oil
good quality extra virgin olive oil
Maldon sea salt

First, rinse the salmon and pat dry with paper towels.  Check the fish carefully for bones and remove any that you find.  Cut salmon four pieces.  Season with salt.  Set aside.  

Halve or quarter the cherry tomatoes, depending on size.  Pit and quarter the nicoise olives.  Chop the basil into confetti-like strips.  Cut half a lemon into two wedges.  Wash and trim the haricots verts.  Blanch haricots verts for a few minutes in a steamer basket.  Do not overcook.  They should be bright green and still fairly firm.  Try one.  If it tastes raw, give it an extra minute or two.  Rinse beans with cold water and set aside.

Turn a large skillet on medium high.  Add 1 T unsalted butter and 1 T canola or extra light olive oil.  Once the butter begins to bubble but not quite brown, add the salmon, skin side up.  If the butter browns too quickly, turn the burner down to medium.  Leave the fish to sear for 3-5 minutes.  Using tongs, turn thicker chunks on each side to sear.  Once the exterior is nicely browned, turn the fish skin side down and allow to cook for an additional 3 minutes.  Remove fish from pan with tongs and set on a plate.  

Using the same pan, adjust heat to medium and add the haricots verts, tossing with any remaining juices in the pan.  Add tomatoes and olives tossing again to combine.  Squeeze lemon juice from 2 wedges over the mixture and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.  Mix in the chopped basil.   Season with salt.    Place the salmon in the pan, on top of the haricots verts mixture, and broil in the oven on low for 2-4 minutes, keeping a close eye on the fish. 

Divide the haricots verts between four dinner plates and place a salmon filet in the center of each plate.  Evenly distribute any remaining juices and serve with slightly sour crusty bread such as the rosemary diamante from Essential Baking Company.

Salmon pairs beautifully with red wine.  Try it with the Firehouse Red from Tamarack Cellars, a Columbia Valley red blend.

fresh alaskan halibut with asparagus, morels, sweet corn and fingerling potatoes, two ways

Spring had sprung and the time came to do something new with halibut.  Morels, with their short season, were calling my name.  Local asparagus had reared its pointy head.  The fish would happily bed down upon Russian banana fingerlings.  Sweet yellow corn was a shoo in; the ideal counterpart to an otherwise savory compilation. 

I began by slicing the potatoes in 1/4” thick ‘coins’.  Half were tossed with Maldon sea salt and olive oil and roasted in the oven on low broil; the other half were parboiled and set aside.  
Leeks pair beautifully with halibut.  I sliced two of them in half, horizontally, up to the pale green part and then cut those into 1/4”  half moons.  I then caramelized the leeks with light olive oil in my Le Creuset, at medium heat. 

After rinsing the morels to remove unwanted grime and possible insects (par for the course), I patted them dry with paper towels, quartered them and added them to the pan with the leeks, allowing the mushrooms to cook for a few minutes.  The asparagus were cut into 1/2” pieces and added to the pan with the leeks and morels. 

After a couple of minutes, I added around 1/2 cup pinot grigio and let it cook down a bit before stirring in 1/2 - 1 cup heavy cream.  Once the mixture began to simmer and thicken slightly, I removed the pan from the heat and strained the sauce, through a sieve, into a medium-sized bowl.

I poured the strained liquid into a new pan, on medium low heat.  Rather than cook the corn, I sliced the starchy sweet kernels right off the cob and into the pan, then added the parboiled potato ‘coins’ and left that mixture to warm on medium low, seasoning with salt, to taste.  The strained morel/leek/asparagus mixture went into another pan, on low heat to keep warm.

Equal parts butter and extra light olive or canola oil are ideal for searing fish, creating a perfect golden exterior, and this was the method used to cook the halibut.  I heated about 1 tablespoon of each, on medium-high, and seared small fist-sized chunks of halibut, skin off, for 2-3 minutes on each side.  When the fish is flipped too soon, it sticks.  If it resists the spatula, I wait, turning down the burner, if needed.

Once the fish was ready, I assembled the dish, starting with a base of the cream/potato/corn mixture.  I placed the seared halibut over  that and spooned the asparagus/leek/morel mixture around the fish with a mound of asparagus and morels atop the fish.  I then added a smattering of roasted potato ‘coins’ and the dish was ready to serve.  Lemon could easily be incorporated in this dish by adding a small amount of zest to the cream mixture or to finish the dish. 

This recipe is loosely based on an entree I fell in love with two summers ago at Seratto in Portland, OR.