Try your hand at ‘fish in a bag’

  • By Sara Moulton Associated Press
  • Thursday, January 2, 2014 4:56pm
  • Life

Fish en papillote is the elegant-sounding name of a staple recipe of classic French cuisine.

Translated into English, it becomes the much less elegant-sounding “fish in a bag.” By any name, however, this method of baking fish is a smash.

Typically, the fish is combined with vegetables and herbs, some butter or oil, and often some wine. All of this is wrapped up in a piece of kitchen parchment and baked.

The parchment keeps the flavor and moisture trapped inside during cooking, allowing the juices from the fish and the other ingredients to mingle and become a wonderful sauce.

In this recipe, the relatively few ingredients I’ve added to the salmon are in the service of the sauce.

But let’s say you wanted to make a whole meal in a bag, sort of like a high-toned TV dinner. In that case, you could add some substantial vegetables — for example sauteed mushrooms, steamed cooked potato cubes, blanched broccoli or carrots.

If you do add vegetables, they’ll need to be pre-cooked. The denser vegetables — such as carrots and broccoli — simply won’t have time to get tender during the 10 to 12 minutes of cooking needed by the salmon.

Similarly, if wetter veggies — such as mushrooms and spinach — aren’t pre-cooked, they’ll release too much liquid in the packet and water down the sauce.

The only tricky part about cooking en papillote is that you can’t see when the fish is done. If you slice open the bag, you risk losing some of the delicious sauce that’s coming together.

My solution is to start with the basic rule of baking fish: In a 400-degree oven, give it 10 minutes of cooking time for every inch of thickness.

When I’m ready to test whether the fish is done, I stick a very sharp thin knife right through the parchment and down through the fish.

No or little resistance? The fish is done. Significant resistance? Bake it for a few more minutes. And by the way, this test works well regardless of how you cook the fish.

The beauty of this dish, besides its deliciousness, is that it requires very little preparation and cooks in no time at all.

Salmon baked in a bag with citrus, olives and chilies

1 small orange

1 lemon

4 skinless 6-ounce center cut salmon fillet pieces

1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary

Kosher salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 cup pitted and chopped olives, preferably oil-cured

1/2 serrano chili, thinly sliced crosswise

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the orange and lemon in half crosswise. Thinly slice 1/2 of the orange and 1/2 of the lemon into thin slices. Juice the remaining halves of both fruits.

Set a 24-inch-long sheet of kitchen parchment on a baking sheet. Fold the sheet in half across the short side, then open the folded parchment (like a book), leaving one half of it on the baking sheet. Arrange about half of the orange and lemon slices in a single layer in the center of the parchment on the baking sheet.

Sprinkle half the rosemary over the citrus slices. Set the salmon over the rosemary, then sprinkle with salt, the citrus juices and oil. Top each piece of salmon with a quarter of the remaining rosemary and citrus slices.

Fold the second half of the parchment over the fish, then crimp and fold the edges together to create a sealed packet. Bake — on the sheet pan — on the oven’s middle shelf for 10 to 12 minutes, or until just cooked through (stick a paring knife through the parchment and salmon; it should move easily through the fish if done).

Cut open the parchment, discard the citrus slices from the top of the salmon, then place each piece on a serving plate. Spoon some of the olives, chilies, rosemary and juices over each piece.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 440 calories; 260 calories from fat (59 percent of total calories); 29 g fat (5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 100 mg cholesterol; 9 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 35 g protein; 490 mg sodium.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.