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Recipe -- Fish Cooked En Papillote -- Salmon

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Author: Paul Hooper-Kelly


Fish Cooked En Papillote


      It all sounds rather glamorous and a little technical, but "En paillote" is merely French for "In a parcel".

      And that's how we will cook our fish for maximum simplicity and maximum flavor. Traditionally, this method used a parcel of waxed paper, but these days aluminum foil is more generally used.

      Unless you have access to industrial size sheets of foil, its best to cut larger fish into individual portions and cook each piece in its own parcel.

      This method is also ideal for cooking on the barbeque. Simply prepare in the normal way and then put the parcels on the barbeque grill rather than in the oven or stove.

      This amount serves one person.

One piece of fish fillet or fish steak.

One piece of aluminum foil 12" (30cm) square

A knob of butter

Your choice of seasoning or herbs, such as salt, pepper, dill, chervil, oregano, parsley or lemon juice

      Grease the foil in the central area with the butter. Rinse the fish in cold running water and place it, skin side down, in the center of the foil, which you have greased with butter.

      Bring two of the opposite sides of the foil together and fold the edges over twice. Repeat this for the other two sides, to complete the parcel.

      Because the fish will effectively be steamed in its own juice, it's very important that you make these folds airtight, so that no steam escapes. You should also take care to allow sufficient air space within the parcel for the steam to circulate.

      Place the parcel on a backing pan and put it into the stove or oven.

      For the average thickness of fish of about one and a half inches (3.67 cm) allow twenty minutes in a stove or oven at 190 degrees centigrade or 375 degrees Fahrenheit. If cooking on a barbeque (because the heat can be quite fierce) undo the parcel slightly and check if the fish is cooked after fifteen minutes.

      The Canadian Department of Fisheries has a good rule of thumb for cooking fish of various thickness, popularly known as the Canadian Theory. This states that, whatever method of cooking is used: grilled, baked, poached or steamed (as here), you simply need to measure the thickest part of your fish and allow ten minutes for every inch (2.45cm) of thickness. If cooking in foil (as we are) add a further five minutes.

      So our fish, being 1.5 inches and cooked in foil is (10 X 1.5) = 15+5=20 minutes.

      The white coating that appears on salmon and other oily fish when cooked en papillote is simply the healthy omega 3 oil, which would normally be lost if the fish was cooked on a open grill. Cooking en papillote preserves all these health giving oils.

      Fish cooked this way can be eaten right away and is also excellent as a cold dish later, perhaps as a summer picnic.

      Copyright 2007 Paul Hooper-Kelly and RemodelYourLife.com
 
  

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