fish in a package, fish en papillote

this is a snappy way to cook fish, veggies and grains all in one step. it's called en papillote, which is a French cooking method that means "in paper" and all you do is wrap your ingredients in parchment paper and cover with a little liquid: broth, wine, coconut milk or water and bake. the liquid in the package will slowly steam-cook all the veggies, couscous and fish.  I used a plain couscous, white wine, lemon juice, tomatoes, red onions, zucchini, carrots, red pepper, dill and halibut. but the combinations are endless and it's a good one to experiment with, because you really can't go wrong.

couscous, veggies and halibut.

couscous and veggies.

the finished product.  

FISH EN PAPILLOTE
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red onion, halved and sliced
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 zucchini thinly sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red pepper sliced
1/4 cup fresh dill
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 six-ounce halibut fillets


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut two large pieces of parchment (depending if you want 1 or 2 servings) - about 24 inches in length, fold in half and unfold. Stir couscous with liquid as recommended on box, and place on the bottom of the parchment, dividing evenly between packages.  Cover with veggies, cover the veggies with the fish fillet and dill, pour oil, lemon juice and wine over the top of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper.  Fold edges of paper over to create rim, and staple edges of parchment paper to seal.  Place packets on cookie sheets and bake for about 20 minutes, until packets have puffed up.

savory is the new sweet

Because I have a pretty serious aversion to sugar in the morning, and it's rough trying to find a baked good around town that isn't frosted, fruity or sweet, the savory dill scones from Macrina have been a long-standing favorite of mine. 

This version is snack-sized, seasoned with dill, green onions and quattro formaggio. They are great plain or with butter for breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

SAVORY DILL SCONES

(Reminiscent of a favorite item of mine from Macrina Bakery)

½ c milk
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup white flour)
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1 tbsp dried dill
1/3 cup grated cheese (grated parmesan or quattro formaggio work well)
¼ cup finely sliced green onions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Beat together the milk and the egg and then set aside. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Rub the butter into the flour mixture, working until you have no butter lumps bigger than a pea. Add the dill, green onions and cheese and toss to mix. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, reserving just a little bit of the milk-egg mixture to use as a glaze. Bring dough together gently with a wooden spoon.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead it a few times. Pat dough into a round, approximately ½-inch thick, and cut into 12 or so small wedges. Place on an parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, glaze wedges.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a rack.

living off the land, a labor of love

Labor day weekend marks the best weekend of the year to live off the bounty of the land. this is because all laborers take a break, and no one is around to cook your meals and wait on you hand and foot. to commemorate this day we caught a few crabs, Dan caught a salmon and then we ate what we caught.


the prize-winning salmon

if you extend your arm so that the fish is closer to the camera, it makes the fish look bigger. that's why this fish looks so huge.

crabs from the crab pots

crabs cooking in a pot on the BBQ

LEMON DILL SALMON

Sauce:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. worcesterschire

juice of half a lemon

2 tsp. dried dill

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Mix all of these ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

for the fish:

olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1-2 lbs. salmon fillets

salt and pepper

juice of half a lemon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. After you've prepared the sauce, drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a glass baking dish, and cover with sliced onions. Place salmon fillets on the bed of onions, salt and pepper fish, and then cover fish with the juice of half a lemon. Spread the salmon with a light layer of the sauce mix, and then sprinkle with additional dill for garnish. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until fish is opaque. Serve fish alongside the baked onions.