(modified from Everyday Food Magazine)
Jessica Fishman Levinson
En papillote is French for “in parchment.” Food cooked in parchment paper is steamed, which results in perfectly cooked, moist food. And when you add herbs and spices you end up with a flavorful dish that is also a cinch to clean up! Plus, the presentation of “en papillote” cooking will have your friends and family feeling like they’re in a gourmet restaurant!
In the past, when I have made dishes “en papillote,” the challenging part has always been folding the parchment paper in such a way that it stays perfectly sealed. So when I received an email from the folks at PaperChef telling me about their new parchment cooking bags, I was super excited to try them! With a bag, you don’t need to worry about cutting the right amount of parchment paper or folding it in the correct way. You just slide the ingredients into the bag and fold up the opening. Put the pouch on a cookie sheet, bake in a 400-degree oven, and then cut it open. Easy as can be!
In a recent issue of Everyday Food, I saw a recipe for Salmon and Spinach in Parchment and decided it was a perfect dish to try out the PaperChef parchment bags. My husband isn’t a big salmon fan, so I bought hake instead.
Serves 3
Ingredients:
6 ounces baby spinach
1 tablespoon grated orange zest, plus 2 oranges, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
3 hake fillets (about 1 pound total). [You could substitute cod or sea bass.]
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
1 shallot, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Divide spinach among three parchment bags. Top with orange zest and slices, hake, ginger, and shallots; season with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil.
2) Place packets on a baking sheet and bake until packets are puffed and fish is cooked through, 15 to 18 minutes.
3) Transfer packets to plates, cut open, and serve immediately.
The one downside to cooking in parchment bags is that it’s a little hard to get everything placed perfectly since you have to reach into a bag. Next time I’ll be sure to make a bed of spinach, rather than spreading it out in the bag.
Jessica Fishman Levinson, MS, RDN, CDN is a registered and New York State-certified dietitian-nutritionist and the founder of Nutritioulicious, a nutrition consulting business in the New York area. Jessica provides her services, including recipe development and analysis, healthy kitchen makeovers, and cooking lessons, to individual and corporate clients. She also consults for food and beverage companies including The Coca-Cola Company, Daisy Brand Cottage Cheese, Fresh Express, Frito Lay, Centrum, Avocados from Mexico, Cabot Cheese, and the Corn Refiners Association. Jessica has extensive experience as a recipe developer, writer, editor, and speaker. She is the co-author We Can Cook: Introduce Your Child to the Joy of Cooking with 75 Simple Recipes and Activities (Barron’s, August 2011), a cookbook for children ages 3 to 6. Jessica maintains a popular nutrition blog and has been featured as a nutrition expert for various television, radio, web, and print outlets. See more at: http://www.nutritioulicious.com/about/#sthash.QTGEjsJx.dpuf
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