Wolfgang Puck - A LIGHT AND FLAVORFUL PACKET OF FISH

ArcaMax Publishing > Home & Garden > Recipes > Wolfgang Puck

ArcaMax Publishing ezines! - Family Friendly News & Fun

Your email address is safe with us. View our Privacy policy.

Food and Wine Pairing Guide:

Match the perfect wine with your recipes using our Wine Pairing guide

The Funnies:

Get free jokes, comics, and more! See them all on
our funnies page

Weather:

Accurate national, regional, and local forecasts on the weather page

A LIGHT AND FLAVORFUL PACKET OF FISH

By Wolfgang Puck, Tribune Media Services

When my friends and restaurant guests ask me for advice on how to keep their new year's resolutions to eat more healthfully, I tell them that if you start with fresh, good-quality ingredients that aren't too high in fat or sodium, the secret to success is all about flavor.

If your efforts result in meals that taste bland and unexciting, it won't be long before you give up and fall back into your old habits. Find ways to pack more flavor into each bite of food while keeping it healthy, however, and you'll discover that your resolution isn't so hard to keep after all.

One of the best ways I know to intensify flavor while keeping food light is to cook en papillote. The French term literally means "in a paper wrapper," and that wrapper was traditionally the sturdy, stick-resistant paper known as parchment paper. That's what I used when I first learned to cook en papillote almost four decades ago. But today, I find that aluminum foil works even better, because it's both easier to seal airtight and more economical.

Fish and shellfish are the main ingredients most commonly prepared en papillote, because they cook so quickly and their delicate texture and taste benefit dramatically from the technique. Combined inside the wrapper with vegetables and seasonings, then baked in a hot oven, seafood stays wonderfully moist, and its natural flavor grows more concentrated while also absorbing the flavors of the other ingredients.

You can judge the delicious results for yourself in my recipe for Fish Fillets en Papillote with Julienned Vegetables. The fish is layered in between aromatic vegetables, and a light drizzle of olive oil and some fresh herbs are the only other additions to the packets. But you won't believe how wonderfully fragrant and flavorful the results are.

Better still, you can use my recipe as the starting point for a wide range of variations. Use whatever really fresh fish fillets you like, such as red snapper, bass, trout, or pike; or try shrimp instead. Vary the seasonings in any way that seems to you like it would taste good. For example, use toasted sesame oil, grated ginger, minced garlic, and a splash of soy sauce for an Asian variation; or substitute cilantro, minced jalapeño, and a little lime juice for a Mexican flavor.

Whatever version you create, all you have to add for a complete main course is maybe some steamed rice or potatoes, which you can pass at the table for everyone to spoon directly into their opened packages.

It's even more convenient than a one-pot meal. In fact, I believe that cooking en papillote may in fact have been invented by somebody who hated to clean up after a meal!

FISH FILLETS EN PAPILLOTE WITH JULIENNED VEGETABLES

Serves 6

2-1/2 to 3 pounds skinless fresh fish fillets, divided into 6 equal portions

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 medium carrot, cut into thin julienne strips

1 small leek, thoroughly washed, cut into thin julienne strips

1 small turnip, peeled and cut into thin julienne strips

Extra-virgin olive oil

2 lemons, thinly sliced, seeds removed

12 small sprigs fresh tarragon or basil

Adjust the oven shelf to the middle position and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Meanwhile, cut 6 pieces of aluminum foil, each large enough to completely and comfortably enclose one portion of the fish fillets and julienned vegetables in a single layer.

In a small mixing bowl, toss together the juliennes of carrot, leek, and turnip. Divide half of the mixture evenly among the pieces of foil, forming beds in the center of each piece. Arrange the fish fillets neatly on top of the vegetables. Drizzle the fillets evenly with olive oil. Arrange the remaining vegetables on top, then cover with lemon slices and 2 herb sprigs per portion.

Close the foil around each fish, bringing the edges of the foil neatly together. Working all along the edges from one end to the other, double-pleat the foil edges together to form airtight packages. Place the packages side by side on a baking sheet.

Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the foil packets have puffed up like balloons, about 15 minutes.

Carefully transfer each foil packet to a dinner plate. Warn your guests in advance to watch out for and keep clear of the steam inside each. Then, with the tip of a sharp knife, puncture each packet to let out some of the steam and let everyone carefully open their packets to eat the fish and vegetables.

This news arrived on: 01/09/2008

Share this Story