Anticiplate

Brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things….

Aren’t these the cutest little packages?  Can you believe you can actually eat them? This is why I love cooking with parchment paper. The easy clean up is just a bonus. It creates one of the most beautiful presentations when it is plated. Guests (or husbands) wonder what this little package contains as the rip open the contents. The steam rises, and juices flow out from the brown paper. It covers the plate, and beckons to be sopped up by some form of carbohydrate.

Parchment baking, or en papillote, creates a perfect fish recipe every time, without that stinky smell that lingers in your house for days. I have made the mistake many times of trying to saute fish. Not only does my house smell, but the fish sticks to the pan requiring so much elbow grease to get it off that I ignore it until the next day, and I am never satisfied with the presentation or the outcome. Broken fish fillets are not up my alley. So, fish and parchment go hand in hand in my household.

This dish takes a whopping 15 minutes. There is no reason not to make it. Sea bass is also light in fat and calories, high in omega 3’s, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, B6 and protein.

Had to give you a little ballerina talk there….

Basically, it is good for a light weeknight meal when you have over-indulged all weekend, which I inevitably do on a weekly basis.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves 2, but can easily be doubled

Adapted from May 2009 Bon Appetit Magazine

1/4 c. sake

3/4 tbsp. tamari

1/2 tsp. peeled ginger, grated

3/4 tsp. agave nectar

2 (6 oz.) pieces sea bass fillets, skin and any bones removed

3 scallions, thinly sliced (about 1/4 c.)

Parchment paper

Kitchen string

Preheat oven and a baking sheet to 400°F with the baking sheet on bottom rack.

Stir together sake, tamari, ginger, and agave nectar in a bowl.

Put a fish fillet in center of each parchment square and season with a small sprinkle of salt. Working with 1 portion at a time, sprinkle fish with some of scallions and spoon a generous amount of sake mixture over top (hold up 2 corners of parchment to prevent liquid from running off, and make sure you stir the mixture up so that the ginger gets on the fish). Gather sides of parchment up over fish to form a pouch, leaving no openings, and tie tightly with string.

Bake on hot baking sheet until fish is just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve immediately with white jasmine rice and a dark green sauteed in sesame oil.

Similar recipes you may love:

Reluctant Gourmet posts about fish en papillote

Kalofagas posts about grouper en papillote with a greek twist

A Smart Mouth posts about cod in foil with julienned veggies