Oven baked asparagus

For ➋

500 g asparagus, thinly peeled

1 lemon, grated zest

50 g butter, soft & cut into cubes

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cut a parchment paper large enough to close the papillote around the vegetables.

Place the asparagus on baking paper. Sprinkle the grated zest on top. Spread the cubes of butter over the asparagus.

Close the papillote.

Cook the asparagus for 25 to 30 m @ 180°C.

Serve with oven roasted potatoes.

Pesce in cartoccio (Italian fish parcel)

For ➍
4 whole fish (400 g each), cleaned & scaled*
8 tbs (10 cl) dry white wine
1 ts sea salt
1 ts freshly ground black pepper
parchment paper**
battuto:
1 large white onion, cut into thin strips
2 tbs fresh fennel fronds, chopped
2 fennel bulbs, cored & cut into thin strips
2 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 tbs (10 cl) extra-virgin olive oil
2 untreated lemons, sliced

Combine battuto ingredients in a large bowl.

Cut four large pieces of parchment paper** long enough to cover length of fish, and fold each in half lengthwise.

Spoon battuto on bottom halves of parchment. Put slices of lemon on top, or chop them in the battuto. Place one fish against the crease of each parchment piece, drizzle with white wine, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put slices of lemon on top, or chop them in the battuto. Cover with fennel fronds.

Fold the parchment at the bottom corner over itself. Continue folding over the previous fold to create a pleat and allow for the paper to be sealed tight. When you have formed a half circle and reached the opposite end of the crease, tuck the paper under the last fold. Place on a large baking sheet.

Bake at 180°C for 20 to 25 m or until the fish is cooked through*. Carefully tear paper** open, allowing steam to escape.

Serve with fresh pasta like cavatelli.***

*Use 4 large fish fillets (200 g each) instead, like seawolf. Adjust cooking time to 15-20 m at 200°C, (or 25 m according to thickness of the fish).
**Use aluminum foil instead.

***Use microwave baked spring potatoes, sprinkled with sea salt instead.

A battuto is a mix of vegetables and herbs that can be used to make a sauce, a stew or a soup. One of the first cookery writers to mention the dish was the great Elizabeth David in her Italian Food. She gives no full recipe, just the method and an ample suggestion of battuto. In fact, the battuto can be made of almost anything, even oranges. (The typical Ligurian battuto, a pine nut sauce for pasta, is not suitable for fish... Read the basic Roman battuto recipe or the one used for the Lazio minestra col battuto alla romana.)
Read more on fish in a parcel: Japanese seafood & vegetables, Moroccan spiced fish, fish & fennel, Burmese steamed fish, chicken or fish with lime & peppers, chicken or fish with basil & tomatoes.
Read more Elizabeth David recipes: roasted peppers, lettuce & almond salad, chicken & rice salad, poaching an egg.

Nga baung doke (Burmese steamed fish)

For ➍
1 kg fillets of sole (or whiting, kingfish)
2 ts salt
1 ts turmeric (or kurkuma)
3 onions
3 cloves garlic
2.5 cm fresh ginger
4 tbs coconut
½ ts chilli powder
1 ts flour
1 tbs water
3 tbs double cream
1 tbs (peanut) oil

Pat the fillets dry. Mix salt and turmeric and rub it in the fish.
Chop the onions, garlic and ginger. Put in a blender. Add coconut, chilli, flour and 1 tbs of water. Blend into a paste. Add the cream.
A large foil of aluminium (30 x 30 cm) will serve as a recipient. Smear it with oil. Form ⅕ of the paste in the shape of a fish fillet in the centre. Put a fish fillet on top, then another layer of paste. End with a layer of paste. (Put 2 piles next to each other to avoid tumbling.) Fold the sides of the foil and close it firmly.*
In a steamer, cook water to the boil. Put the package in the steam basket and steam for 20 m.*
Make another basket of mixed bite-size vegetables. Put in the steamer for the last 5 m. Meanwhile cook some rice to serve with.
You can serve this dish with a classic Burmese pumpkin soup, as a cold soup or as a drink, the Burmese way.

*You can make separate foil boxes for each person. Reduce steaming time to 10 m.

Burma has been turned into the military state of Myanmar. Illustration shows old paper money of 1 kwat with fisherman.
Read more en papillote recipes: chicken or fish en papillote with basil & tomatoes, chicken or fish en papillotte with lime & peppers, Italian fish parcel.

Niwatori shijutsu wa sarada (Japanese cucumber & chicken salad)

For ➍
2 cucumbers, julienned
2 chicken breasts
2-3 slices fresh ginger root
1 tbs sake*
½ ts salt
dressing:
4 tbs ground white sesame seeds
2 ts rice vinegar**
2 ts sugar***
2 ts soy sauce
1 tbs mayonnaise

Place cucumber strips in a bowl. Sprinkle ½ ts of salt over them. Lightly knead by hands. Set aside for a few m. Squeeze cucumber to remove the liquid.
Boil water in a medium pan. Add ginger, sake, and salt in the pan. Boil chicken breasts until cooked.
Drain chicken breasts.**** Tear into thin strips.
Mix all the ingredients for dressing in a bowl.
Put chicken and cucumber in the bowl and mix well.
Serve chilled.

*Use dry sherry.
**Use white balsamico.
***Use mirin.
****Or: put chicken in an open parcel. Add sake, salt and ginger slices. Marinate for 30 m. Add a few drops of oil. Close the parcel to a paillotte . Cook in the 180°C preheated oven for 20-25 m. Or use a microwave, cooking times depending on weight(about 2 m / 100 g).

Chicken with basil & tomatoes

For ➊
1 boneless chicken breast*
salt & pepper
2 tbs olive oil
½ medium sized or 3 tbs onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, sliced
2 tbs white wine
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 leaves basil, chiffonade
some extra basil chiffonade***

Salt and pepper chicken* and place on parchment sheet**. Drizzle with olive oil. Add onion, garlic, white wine, cherry tomatoes and basil. Wrap parchment** tightly around contents. Secure into a package with kitchen twine. Place on cookie sheet or in a tin. Place in oven for 35 to 40 m.
Unwrap package and serve hot, with a garnish of fresh basil chiffonade***.
Pour a glass of spicy white wine like Viognier.

*Use firm white fish instead. Check after 20 m to see whether it's done.
**Use large aluminum foil instead. Close tightly.
***Optional.

Read more en papillote recipes.

Cod en papillotte with asparagus & mushrooms

For ➍
4 cod fillets
8 white asparagus
100 g white mushrooms
1 bunch scalions
1 lemon
1 dl cream

Peel the asparagus and keep the peel. Cut the asparagus diagonally. Cook until al dente in boiling salted water.
Cut the mushrooms into quarters and blanch them briefly in the cooking water from the asparagus.
Keep the cooked vegetables separately and add the asparagus peel to the cooking water.
Reduce by half and pour through a sieve. Add the lemon juice and the cream and bring to boil.
Grease 4 pieces of aluminum foil with butter. Put cod fillets on and arrange the vegetables with a few few spoonfuls of sauce.
Close the papillotes. Bake for 10 m on the BBQ.
Open. Garnish with the chopped spring onions and serve immediately.

Read tip on cooking asparagus.

Cod & fennel mash

For ➍
650 g mushy potatoes, peeled, cubed
1 nut butter
4 tbs dry white wine
a few sprigs fresh thyme
600 g cod fillet
1 clove garlic, crushed
5 cl milk
1 medium fennel bulb, chopped
salt & pepper
3 tomatoes, peeled & seeded, cubed

Put the potatoes and fennel in a pan. Add the crushed garlic clove, put under cold water and bring to the boil. Cook for 20 m.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove the oven plate. Take 4 large rectangles of aluminum foil or parchment paper and fold them in 2 to get 4 squares. Put in the center of each square a portion of cod and 1 tbs wine, season with salt and pepper and add the thyme. Close the papillote and bake for 15 m.
Drain the cooked potatoes and fennel. 
Heat milk and butter in the pan, add the tomatoes, potatoes and fennel. Mash everything with the pestle and season with salt and pepper.

Remove the fish from the papillote and serve with mashed potatoes. Decorate with green fennel herb. *Alternatively put the fish parcels in microwave. For about 5 m.

Poulet en papillotte (chicken with lime & peppers)

For ➊
1 boneless chicken breast*
salt & pepper, to taste
½ ts chili powder
¼ ts paprika
¼ ts cayenne pepper
2 tbs olive oil
½ untreated lime
½ medium sized or 3 tbs onion, chopped
3 tbs celery, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
½ carrot, cut into large chunks
2 tbs white wine
some basil chiffonade***

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Cut a few thin slices of lime, and place on sheet of parchment paper**.

Sprinkle salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika and cayenne pepper over chicken breast*.

Place chicken* over lime slices and squeeze juice from the rest of the lime over chicken. Drizzle with olive oil.

Throw in onion, celery, garlic, carrots, and white wine. Tightly twist parchment paper** into a package and tie with kitchen twine. Place on cookie sheet or in a tin and place in oven for 35 to 40 m. Unwrap package and serve hot.

Pour a glass of mild white wine like Muscadet.

*Use firm white fish instead. Check after 20 m to see if it's done.
**Use large aluminum foil instead. Close tightly.
***Optional.

Cooking 'en papillote' puts some, not too large ingredients in a parcel, most of the time for individual users. In a conventional oven, several parcels can be cooked at the same time. To make the parcel, parchment is used or metal foil, or, in Oriental cuisines, (banana) leaves. The parcel forces the food to steam in its own juices, producing a healthy, easy and attractive dish. It can also be done in a microwave with parchment. Adjust timing, depending on the weight (go for 70% strength).
Read more en papillote recipes: chicken en papillote with basil & tomatoes, Burmese steamed fish, Pesce in cartoccio (Italian fish parcel).

Tomato, cucumber & ginger salsa

For ➍
6 tbs rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
2 tbs fish sauce (nam pla)
50 g sugar
400 g tomatoes, chopped into 1 cm pieces
1 cucumber, seeded & chopped into 1 cm pieces
1 small red onion, peeled & finely chopped
1 spring onion, trimmed & finely chopped
½ red chilli, seeded & finely chopped
juice of ½ a lime
2 tbs chopped fresh coriander
1 ts finely grated fresh ginger
4 portions baked fish

Boil the vinegar, fish sauce and sugar (stir to dissolve the sugar) in a saucepan for 5 m until it thickens slightly.

Place in a large mixing bowl. Leave to cool.

Add the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, chilli, lime juice, coriander and ginger.

Toss and add more lime juice or ginger if necessary.

Serve with fish baked in a parcel.

Saumon en papillote (salmon in parcel)

For ➍
olive oil, for the parchment paper*
4 salmon fillets, 175 g each
4 small ripe tomatoes, sliced
1 large lemon, sliced into 8 rounds
8 tarragon sprigs

Cut 4 heart-shaped pieces of baking parchment large enough for the salmon to fit on one half.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

For each fillet, brush a parchment heart with olive oil.

Place 1 sliced tomato on one half of the heart.

Top with 1 salmon fillet, 2 lemon slices, 2 tarragon sprigs, and season with salt and pepper.

Fold the heart over to enclose the fish and vegetables. Tightly crimp the edges to create a tight seal. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

(The salmon parcels can be refrigerated up to 6 h before baking. )

Place the parcels on a baking sheet. Bake for about 15 m, until the paper browns.

Place the salmon parcels on dinner plates. Serve immediately, with scissors so each guest can open their packet.

Serve with beurre blanc poured over the fish or served alongside.

*Use aluminum foil instead.

Read more fish in a parcel recipes: Japanese seafood & vegetables, Moroccan spiced fish, fish & fennel, Burmese steamed fish, chicken or fish with lime & peppers, chicken or fish with basil & tomatoes, Italian fish parcel, salmon in miso.

Salmon with miso

For ➍
2 salmon steaks, cut in halves, bones removed
4 small green bell peppers, julienned
½ medium carrot, peeled, julienned
100 g enoki mushrooms, stems trimmed*
3 tbs white miso paste**
2 tbs sake***
1½ tbs sugar
2 tbs butter

Mix miso, sake, and sugar in a small cup. Put ½ tbs of butter and a portion of green bell pepper, carrot, and enoki on a large sheet of aluminium foil. Place a piece of salmon on the top. Spread a portion of miso mixture on the salmon.
Fold the foil and seal the edges. Make 4 foil packets.
Place two foil packets in a large skillet. Put water into the skillet up to about 1 cm high. Cover the skillet with a lid and steam on medium heat for about 15 m. Cook other 2 foil packets in the same way.
Serve with dry rice.

*Or use shiitake mushrooms.
**Soy bean paste. Avoid salty brown miso.
***Or use dry sherry.

Read more fish in a parcel recipes: Japanese seafood & vegetables, Moroccan spiced fish, fish & fennel, Burmese steamed fish, chicken or fish with lime & peppers, chicken or fish with basil & tomatoes, Italian fish parcel, saumon en papilotte.

Sakana no gingami yaki (Japanese seafood & vegetables)

For ➍
4 fillets firm white fish
½ ts salt
1 tbs sake*
8 large raw prawns
4 large dried shiitake mushrooms
12 ginkgo nuts, shelled & skinned**

Wash fish well, dry it, sprinkle lightly with salt and sake and let it marinate for 10 m.
Remove prawn heads and cut along the back of the shell with a sharp knife so that the vein can be removed without shelling the prawns.
Soak dried mushrooms in very hot water for 30 m, then cut off and discard stems and slice the caps finely.
Take pieces of foil about 25 cm square and lightly oil one side.
Put a fish fillet, 2 prawns, 1 mushroom and 3 ginkgo nuts on each square of foil. Fold foil to form a parcel and bake in a moderate oven, 170°C, for 20 m or cook over coals on a barbecue or under a grill. Serve hot in the foil parcel.
Serve with (soba) noodles.

*Use dry manzanilla sherry instead.
**Use skinned maroons or pumpkin bite-size chunks instead. Roast a little before using.
Read risotto with roasted pumpkin recipe for roasted pumpkin how-to.

Whiting & mushrooms

For ➍
4 small whiting or whiting fillets
4 slices smoked bacon
4 cl dry white wine
300 g shiitake mushrooms (or white button mushrooms)
1 clove garlic
4 stalks rosemary
1 tbs chives, chopped
1 tbs butter
½ tbs olive oil
salt & pepper

Clean the mushrooms. Discards the stalks. Slice.
Preheat oven to 220°C.
Cook the mushrooms for 1 m in a pan with olive oil. Add garlic at the end.
Wash and dry the fish. Put a slice of bacon around each fish.
Cut 4 large sheets of aluminum foil, shining side up. Brush with olive oil.
Put ¼ of the mushrooms on each sheet. Put a fish on it. Add rosemary and some butter. Add some white wine. Sprinkle with chives. Add some salt and pepper if necessary. Close the parcels.
Cook for 10/12 m in the oven.
Serve with boiled potatoes or roasted parsnips.

Moroccan spiced fish

For ➍
4 fillets of firm white fish, 150 g each
8 small firm tomatoes
1 clove garlic, crushed
50 g almonds
Moroccan spice blend
8 leaves basil, shredded
olive oil
salt & fresh pepper
1 l salted water
4 sheets of baking paper or aluminium foil

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Brown almonds. Crush them.

Boil 1 l of salted water. Drop tomatoes in for 30 s. Cool under streaming cold water. Remove peels, seeds and juice.

Cube tomato meat. Add salt and pepper, 1 tbs olive oil, crushed garlic.

Brush some oil on both sides of the fish fillets. Add some salt and pepper.

On each sheet, put 3 tbs of tomato mix, a fish fillet, 2 pinches of spice blend, almonds and ½ tbs of oil.

Close the parcels.

Put in oven for 15 m.

Serve with couscous. Add some fresh herbs, like shredded parsley.

'Ras al hanut', 'spices of the master', consists of ginger, roses, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, pepper grains, and cubeb pepper. Each brand has its own specific blend.

A parcel of fish & fennel

For ➍
300 g white fish fillets
2 ts chili powder
1 small fennel (or ½ large one)
1 red onion
2 tbs parsley
1 tbs lemon or orange peel, grated
3 tbs vermouth*
salt & pepper
2 sheets of baking paper**

Preheat oven to 200°C. Rub the fish fillets with salt, pepper and chili powder. Cut fennel and onion into paper-thin slices.
Spread two large pieces of baking paper**. Put in half of the fennel and onion, with half of the grated peel and parsley. Put the fillets on top. Cover with the rest of the grated peel, fennel, onion, parsley. Add salt and pepper and sprinkle with vermouth**.
Close the parcel. Leave a funnel. Put in oven for 20 m.
Serve with potato puree.*** Decorate with some washed and shredded fennel leaves.

*Replace vermouth with pastis for a more aniseed-like flavour.
**Slightly oiled aluminium foil will do.
***Add some fennel seeds and a drop of vermouth. Or melt 1 bs of butter with a few drops of vermouth* and dribble over the puree.

Baked feta

For ➍
400 g pure sheep feta*
2 large mild red chilies
200 g ripe (cherry) tomatoes, skinned, seeded, finely chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 tbs tomato purée
1 red onion, thinly sliced
handful oregano leaves, chopped**
1 tbs capers
olive oil
salt & pepper

Heat the oven to 200 °C. Cut the feta into 4 portions*** to make 4 parcels.

Finely chop the chilies, tomatoes, spring onions and mint. Mix with a good splash of olive oil.

For individual parcels, put the cheese on a slightly oiled baking paper. Spoon over a quart of the mixture.

For a big parcel, put 6 blocks on the paper, spread half the mixture over it. Cover with remaining cheese blocks. Spread the rest of the mix over it.

Close the parcel(s). Put a tin foil around it to seal.

Fold up the foil/paper into into a parcel and seal by crimping the edges.

Bake in the oven for 10 m.

Serve with lukewarm fresh bread and a glass of cool crispy Moschofilero wine.

*Rinse before using when the cheese is too salty. Dip dry.
Use 200 g feta for a starter and make 1 parcel.
Or use halloumi instead
**Use fresh mint instead. Or a mix.
***Cut into 12 squares when putting all together in 1 parcel.

Tilapia with green onions

For ➍
400 g tilapia filets (or 4 small filets)*
2 ts butter
salt & pepper
2 green onions or scallions
5 ts herbes de Provence

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Clean the onions, cutting off most of the green. Cut them in 2 pieces, and slice each piece in half lengthwise.
Prepare 4 sheets of aluminum foil. On each sheet of foil, place ½ ts of butter. Drape a filet over the butter, add salt and pepper to taste and one quarter of the sliced onions. Add about ½ ts of water to each packet, sprinkle ¼ of the herbes de Provence on top of each. Fold the foil up and over the filet until you have a loose packet, making sure there's some room inside to steam. Seal all edges. Repeat for the other filets.
Put the packets on a baking sheet. Put into oven for 20 to 25 m.
Serve with basmati rice.

*Use another firm fish instead.

tip: cooking seafood with whisky

Use whisky for scallops ceviche:

For lunch, Scottish fishermen shuck a fresh scallop, put a little whisky on it, and eat it like a ceviche. Try this with almost any type of seafood. For fresh fish or scallops, put some Bourbon in it or single-malt whisky (the purest form of whisky) and eat it. If you don’t use a single malt, then it will be a blend and won’t be as pure.
Use whisky to cure salmon:

A single malt is too expensive, so cover the fish in a blend for 24 hours, cure it with salt and sugar for another 24 h, then lay it on acetate, put on a layer of single malt whisky, and then refrigerate it until it’s ready to be served.
Use fish at room temperature:

Make sure that the fish is at room temperature, not warm, but not straight from the refrigerator. You don’t want to overcook the fish, so if the center is cold, then it won’t cook evenly. With room-temperature fish, get a pan really hot, add a little butter/oil and salt and put the fish in it. Sear it quickly on one side so it gets a little crust then immediately remove from the heat, flip the fish over, leaving it in the pan. The heat from the pan will permeate through to cook the fish from the bottom up, while the side that was initially on the heat will also continue to cook the fish from the top down. With this method, you are not cooking the fish all the way through (this also works with other seafood like scallops).
Poach fish:

For poaching, bring whatever the poaching liquid is to a simmer, then take it off the heat, and put the fish in. Don't put the fish on heat.

Read other cooking tips: fish & seafood @ microwave, cooking fish in papillotte, cooking scallops, cooking & broiling in the oven. Read more tips.

tip: a fish in a parcel

For ➍
4 portions (150 g) fish, such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, mullet or sea bass, off the bone.*
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Place each fish portion on a large piece of oiled parchment paper or aluminium foil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Then roll up the edges of the paper or foil to prevent the juices from burning in the dish and enclose, sealing the edges.

Cook in the oven for 12-18 m or until the fish is cooked through to the centre.

To serve, place the parcels on warmed serving plates.

Serve with a sauce, dressing or salad like the slightly Oriental tomato & cucumber & ginger salsa.

*Leave the skin on if you wish. De-scale if it's salmon, mullet or sea bass.

Read more fish in a parcel recipes: Japanese seafood & vegetables, Moroccan spiced fish, fish & fennel, Burmese steamed fish, chicken or fish with lime & peppers, chicken or fish with basil & tomatoes, Italian fish parcel, salmon in miso, saumon en papillote.
Read all papillote recipes.
Read more tips.