Fish en Papillote

My daughter’s school is planning on bringing back students to their campus in a few weeks. Before she heads back to university, I wanted to make sure she gets meals she won’t get there. When there she mostly eats vegetarian as, well, dining hall meat and seafood doesn’t always set a high bar. As she loves seafood I thought I’d make this incredibly easy but delicious Fish en Papillote for her. I do wish I could cook her dishes and mail them to her safely but well, that’s not possible.

I am curious how long open campuses will last. These issues are the same closer to home. Our school system is looking to have in-classroom learning. Not quite sure how they will pull this off when, in the high school, there will be 1400 students walking through the hallways every 84 minutes. Who will be cleaning the classrooms between classes? Not an easy problem.

Technique for Fish en Papillote

I bought a nice piece of fresh cod for this dish and the fresh thyme from the garden was a lovely compliment. This fish was a reminder to pay attention to what the fishmonger is handing you. I pointed to a thicker filet and without me paying attention, I got this thin piece. I didn’t notice until I was back home. Slightly small for two people, especially when one is a teenager.

Place the fish in the parchment paper and twist the ends to make a boat shape. Add the ingredients into the boat.

Seal the package so the liquid is contained.

Bake at 350F/175C for 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. You want the cod to be nice and flaky.

Serve immediately.

It was a lovely pairing with salad and roasted sweet potato. This is also a great dish to whip up for a quick lunch.

Fish en Papillote

Fish cooked in parchment paper

Course Main Course
Cuisine Mediterranean
Keyword Fish en Papillote
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings 2

Ingredients

  • 6 oz fresh cod
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme
  • 2 tsp capers
  • 1 tsp butter
  • sea salt to taste
  • freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.

  2. Place the cod onto a piece of parchment paper. Make a boat shape with the parchment paper and add the rest of the ingredients to the fish.

  3. Seal the parchment paper into a packet to hold the liquid in. Bake 10-15 minutes until the fish is cooked and flaky.

  4. Serve with sides of your choice. For example, a salad and roasted sweet potato.

Scallops in the Shell

Does anyone have the cure for jet lag?  As we get older it seems to keep a hold on us longer and longer.  It didn’t help we came back to dreary rain.  Good for the garden, not so good at getting us going!  I do hope it means our garden will do better than it did last year.  Last year was a very dusty growing season.

Being back in the UK was wonderful, we had incredible weather and did loads of walking.  We had to walk off all the lovely meals my mother-in-law cooked up!  Of course we like giving her a break from cooking, she runs a B & B so she welcomes the break!  Last year we did a curry night as my father-in-law is a big fan but my MIL isn’t so this time round we did a tapas night.  Which I love doing!  So off we went to the shops to get ingredients.

Aside from the usual dishes that are easy to throw together I found some scallops on the shell, which is near impossible to get stateside, never mind getting scallops with the coral still attached.  So I couldn’t pass this up.

Scallop in the shell 1 2017

Heat up the broiler/griller to medium.  Season the scallops with sea salt and pepper, thyme, olive oil, and rosé wine.  I had some of the wine from our France trip and while it turns out it’s not a favourite of mine I knew it would work well with this dish.

Scallop in the shell 2 2017

Broil/grill until the scallops are cooked.  Be careful not to overcook the scallops, you still want it tender.  This will only take a couple of minutes.

Scallop in the shell 3 2017

Serve on the shell.  This is a fun and quick dish to make, I just wish I could get this round here! It was a great night with good food, good company, and good wine.

Seafood Chowdah

Years ago, when my family had a small manufacturing company, my dad would make a fish chowder for the Christmas party.  Once he made it, that was it, I don’t think he was allowed to make anything else.  His dish was guaranteed to disappear.  I found his recipe that he used because I wanted to make a treat for my visiting in-laws.

Of course I couldn’t leave it alone!  I had to make it my own.  Good thing my dad is used to these kind of shenanigans.  It doesn’t mean I wouldn’t scarf down a bowl of his if it magically appeared before me.  It would not have a chance to get cold!

This is a very easy dish to put together, just make sure you have good quality ingredients.  No skimping!

seafood-chowder-1-2016

I found lovely cuts of salmon and cod at the co-op.  You want firm fish for this chowder.  I cubed three red skin potatoes and covered with water.  Bring the water to a boil and while the potatoes are cooking prep the other ingredients.  I chopped half an onion and a couple of cloves of garlic.  In a skillet heat up a tablespoon or so of olive oil and begin cooking the onion.  Once the onion is translucent add the garlic.  I couldn’t find salt pork so I chose to use pancetta instead.  If you find salt pork you do not need a lot otherwise you can overpower the chowder.  I chopped about 1/2 a cup of pancetta and added it to the skillet.

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Add a handful of fresh thyme and a 1/2 cup of dry white wine.  Cook for a  few minutes.  Once the potatoes begin to soften add the contents of the skillet to the pot.  Cube the fish and add that as well.

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Add enough water to cover the fish.  Don’t bring it to a boil!  Slowly cook the fish at a low simmer. It will gradually begin to flake without becoming tough.

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Season with sea salt and pepper.  Add a bit more wine to taste if you need to.  Wait until you are ready to serve before you add a cup of cream and two tablespoons of salted butter.  Warm through and serve.

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My husband made some homemade bread to go with this dish.  So good with butter!  And it holds up as leftovers.

A Feast for the Eyes – La Boqueria

Was there ever a point in your childhood when you were let loose in a candy store?  You were overwhelmed and couldn’t believe all the treats swimming before your eyes?  Not knowing which way to look and didn’t want to miss anything.  This is exactly how I felt when we entered the La Boqueria in Barcelona.

This place is insanely fabulous.  It was lively, bustling, ingredients everywhere, I mean you need it just look and you’ll find it.  All fresh food waiting to be taken home.  The hard part was it was look but don’t touch for us as our kitchen was over 3000 miles away.  I felt so inspired and could have just started cooking right there.

La Boqueria has roots going back centuries.  It began around 1217 as a meat market and just stuck around for centuries until the early 1800’s when it was finally recognised as a legal market.  It “officially” opened in 1840.  We heard a few people mention the market and just said it was a place to check out.  As we like food off we went.  So glad we did!

I took several photos as we went round and I wanted to share them with you.

La Boqueria 1 2013 La Boqueria 2 2013 La Boqueria 3 2013 La Boqueria 4 2013 La Boqueria 5 2013 La Boqueria 6 2013 La Boqueria 7 2013 La Boqueria 8 2013 La Boqueria 9 2013 La Boqueria 10 2013 La Boqueria 11 2013 La Boqueria 12 2013 La Boqueria 13 2013 La Boqueria 14 2013

We have nothing like this where we are.  Maybe that’s a good thing in that you’d never get me to leave but on the other hand to have all these ingredients near by would be wonderful.  The things I would be able to cook!