Fish en Papillote

French has a way of making anything sound delicious, just think about it. One would totally eat escargot just because it sounds all exotic and delicious only to realise it’s French for snails, yeah in some places it’s a delicacy.

Meals in foreign languages have a way of seeming complicated while in actual sense some are pretty easy to make. For the final recipe for the Samsung Blogger Challenge I decided to make fish en papillote which basically translates to fish in parchment. 

I didn’t know about this en papillote name until recently. Sometime back I posted a fish in a foil recipe and a chef, Esther was quick to inform me of the en papillote way of cooking. Basically the fish or chicken together with vegetables of choice and seasonings are put in parchment pockets and cooked. Majority of the time the loaded pockets are baked. In my case I used the microwave. It’s a steaming method, the parchment traps the moisture which when heat up cooks the meal.

I wanted to make the fish with a combination of simple ingredients. I also used vegetables that cook very fast and of course that will add a pop of colour against the white fish fillet.

Season the fish fillets with salt and black pepper on both sides.

 Now to make the parchment pockets. One will need some parchment (grease proof) paper.

Fold the parchment in half.

Cut the sides to form an angular shaped heart.

You can trace out the lines.

 Now to assemble.

I used pineapple slices to add the necessary citrous kick. I always find that fish goes very well with something acidic.

Whenever I use pineapple in my cooking I also accompany it with some oregano. I find that the taste of the pineapple is enhanced with the addition of the oregano.

 Once sprinkled with some oregano, make a bed of vegetables for the fish to rest on. I used green and yellow bell peppers and sliced red onions.

Lay on the seasoned fish fillet.

 Drizzle over some olive oil.

Finally fold the parchment pocket and tightly seal the edges. The moisture inside will cook the veggies and the fish.

 Now for the easy and final part. Place the fish  en papillote on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high for 4 minutes. For the Samsung Microwave Oven the highest power is 900 W.

Four minutes later your meal is done. Imagine a meal in 4 minutes, goodness no more excuses for not having time to whip up a quick meal and on top of it, it’s healthy, double score!

Using oven mitts remove the plate from the microwave and let the fish rest for 2 minutes before serving it.

Serving size is one papillote per person and it’s served when it’s in the papillote.

Enjoy with some brown rice.

Upon ripping open the pocket, the aroma of the bell peppers and onions just makes the mouth water.

The combination of the clean fish taste with the sweet pineapple and the lightly cooked bell peppers and onions is just perfect.

Delicious!

Fish en papillote, Enjoy!

The Samsung Blogger Challenge has finally come to an end and the winner will be announced on 9th September 2014.

Thank you so much for your support.

To see the previous challenges;

1. Tasty sunrise, here

2. Return of the lunchbox, here

3. Devilish delights, here and here

I’d love to know, which is your favourite?