PARCHMENT WRAPPED FISH

Parchment Wrapped Fish image

This recipe looks fantastic, smells wonderful, and the flavors, in my opinion, are just perfect. I made it for a special dinner and I was so pleased with how it came out (and how good it made me look)! I used Salmon, but any firm or flaky fish will work fine, and I used 6-oz. filets (with the skin) instead of the steaks. For my guest, the fish was perfect, still a bit moist inside (which is, I understand, the right way to serve it). I tend to like my fish drier and flakier inside, so I put mine back in the oven for a couple of minutes. I also used salted butter, so I cut down a bit on the added salt. I saved time by making the vegetable and cilantro mixture and preparing the chiles the night before, so all I had to do for dinner was assemble and wrap it in the parchment. Cleaning up was a breeze. This is a major keeper. I most definitely plan to make this again. If you do try it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. The recipe was eaily scaleable to 2 servings, and would be the same to scale to more if needed. I found the recipe on the Web, and it is from a book called Jim McNair's Favorites.

Provided by Charmed

Categories < 15 Mins

Time 11m

Yield 6 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 15

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Ingredients

oil or nonstick cooking spray, for greasing the parchment paper.
2 ears corn (can also use 1 cup thawed, lightly cooked frozen OR 1 cup canned corn kernels)
2 small carrots, peeled & slivered
2 green onions with tops, peeled & slivered
1/2 large red pepper, slivered
1 -2 fresh serrano chilies or 1 -2 other hot chili pepper, stems,membranes and seeds discarded,slivered
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
3 lbs fish steaks (firm- or flaky-fleshed)
6 tablespoons tequila
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt
ground dried ancho chile powder (or pasila, or other mild to medium chile)
6 slices thin limes
fresh cilantro (to garnish)

Steps:

Preheat an oven to 475 degrees F.
Cut cooking parchment paper into 6 rectangles measuring 10 by 20 inches each.
Using a pastry brush, lightly brush one side of each sheet with the butter or oil, or coat with non-stick spray.
Then fold each rectangle in half to form a square with the greased sides facing each other.
Set aside.
If using fresh corn, cut the kernels from the cobs and measure out 1 cup.
Add the corn (or 1 cup cooked frozen or canned corn) to a large bowl along with the carrots, onions, sweet peppers, fresh chiles and cilantro.
Open the greased parchment paper and sprinkle half the vegetable mixture, dividing evenly, over one half of each of the parchment rectangles.
Leave at least a 2 inch border between the vegetable and the edges of the paper.
Rinse the fish under cold running water and dry with paper towels.
Place a piece of fish on top of the vegetables on each of the 6 pieces of parchment.
In a small bowl, mix together the tequila and the lime juice.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of the tequila mixture over each piece of fish.
Drizzle each piece of fish with about 1 1/2 tsp.
of the melted butter and season with salt and the ground ancho or other chile powder.
Place a slice of lime on each pice of fish, and scatter the remaining vegetables evenly over each of the 6 pieces.
Refold the parchment paper in half over the fish and vegetable mixture and seal the packets securely by making a series of tight, overlapping folds (about 1 inch folded over) along the edges of each side to form a square.
Place the packets on a baking sheet and bake until the packets puff up, about 10 minuts.
Transfer the packets to warm plates, garnish with cilatro leaves, and serve immediately, allowing each to open his or her own packet.
It is a good idea to have the entire remainder of the meal ready so the packets can go directly from the oven to the table and the meal can begin.
Be awre that with this cooking method you are unable to test the fisih to see if it is donw.
You have to rely on judging the cooking time based on minutes per inch of thickness.
Note that soft-fleshed fish does not work well with this recipe because it cooks too soon.