Cod en Papillote

It’s fish share day again and this week’s Fresh Catch was cod. As much as I love creating all of my silly little fish recipes, I still think the best way to enjoy fresh cod is simply baked with butter. Wrapping it in parchment paper allows the fish to steam as it bakes without drying out the meat.

Also, making the papillote, or pouch, is like making a fun little Valentine for your fish, because the paper is cut into a heart shape before the sides are tucked.

Dill is the classic match for cod and lends its fresh, grassy flavor without barging right in, and butter is butter. You know the deal.

Any white round fish similar to cod (haddock, pollock, etc), will work perfectly for this dish. I just happened to have plenty of fresh cod laying around today.

Cod en Papillote – serves 2 – 4

1 – 1 lb cod, haddock or pollock fillet
2 T butter
3 – 5 sprigs of fresh dill, finely chopped (about 2 T)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

While the oven preheats, melt the butter in an oven-proof dish until lightly browned and bubbling.

Place the fillet diagonally on the left-hand side of a large piece of parchment paper – large enough for the right half of the paper to fold over the top of the fillet. Fold the right-hand side of the paper over the fish. Allowing a 2 or 3 inch margin on all sides, cut out the silhouette of the fish just as if you’re cutting out a heart for a Valentine Day card.

Turn the paper back again to pour the browned butter over the fish and sprinkle with dill.

Fold the paper over. Tuck and crease the edges to form a seal.

Cook for 10-15 minutes until the fish is just beginning to flake apart with a fork.

The fish and butter will form a rich sauce in the papillote. Be sure to spoon this over each serving for maximum yums.

Serve hot.

Lobster Stuffed Flounder

We are members of Cape Ann Fresh Catch – a wonderful program that offers shareholders fresh fish, caught locally the morning of pick-up. It’s like a CSA, but with fish. This week’s catch was flounder – 12 fillets. In case you were wondering, that’s a lot of fish. Fortunately, I was hosting a pot luck dinner the following evening.

There are plenty of lovely ways to make flounder, but I decided to make roulades with a lobster meat stuffing just to kick things up a notch. Back in my pescatarian days, I was really big into fish stuffed with lobster, and much preferred its fancy-factor over a simply baked white fish – which is also great of course, just not as special-occasion-y.

Some recipes call for a great big list of ingredients for the stuffing. I like to keep it simple in order to prevent the lobster meat from getting lost, because if you’re going to throw in a whole crisper drawer, you might as well just use imitation crab meat (horrors!), and that would surely be less than stellar. Lobster meat is combined with just enough onion and butteriness to complement its sweetness, and thin flounder fillets make the perfect pouch for the stuffing.

I recommend using a glass or ceramic baking dish, which will keep the roulades warm after they have been removed from the oven.

In other news, for the potluck, my gracious friends brought a fantastic salad, chocolate cakes, bananas foster spring rolls, a white cake with fruit, pound cake with strawberries and perfect homemade whipped cream, and fantastically rich gluten-free brownies (Thank you ladies if you are reading this!), and we served my Roasted Pork Tenderloin, and a strawberry rhubarb pie that I improvised. A lovely, lovely evening.

Lobster Stuffed Flounder - serves 6 – 12

12 flounder fillets
1 C crushed buttery crackers
1/2 C mayonnaise
1/2 lb lobster meat (about 3 tails)
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl combine crushed crackers, mayo, green onion, lobster meat and egg.

Lay fillet flat on a work surface and spoon a compact 1/4 cup of stuffing onto the center of the fillet. Fold the sides of the fillet over the stuffing.

Arrange stuffed fillets in a buttered 9″x 13″ baking dish.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Serve to dear friends/ people who like fish.