Fish Baked in Parchment: Minimalist Gourmet

Mahi-mahi prepared for baking in parchment

Baking parchment is one of those kitchen extras that can be used in many ways, such as lining cookie sheets when baking cookies or scones. I really like it for wrapping up little packets of raw food, sealing the packets, then baking them, sealing in all the flavors and juices. It’s a method which works especially well with fish. Making the packets out of foil works, too, except you can’t use any acidic ingredients, like lemons or tomatoes, because they will have an unappetizing reaction to the foil.

Recently I decided it was time to have my son and his wife over for dinner, but our usual summer dinner on the porch wasn’t going to happen with this unbelievably hot and humid weather. So I planned it for indoors in the air conditioning, yet I still wanted to make something as light and easy as I would have if we were going to eat outside. In the morning I mixed up some no-knead dough to rise, then made a quick chocolate cheesecake and got that in the fridge to cool and set. Took a walk down to the farmer’s market and picked up an assortment of veggies as well as some cherries and blueberries. The fruits were for picking on and serving with the cheesecake, the veggies were chopped and tossed with black beans and cannellini as per my Two-Bean salad in my free ebook.

The fish, however, was another story. It seemed like every store in town either had fish my family wasn’t wild about, and/or fish that cost $20 per pound. I ended up finding whole frozen Mahi Mahi filets at $5.89 for 28 oz.; a quick check on the internet assured me they could be cooked like any white ocean fish. There was enough time to thaw them in the fridge, too, so that worked out okay. I wanted a variety of veggie flavors with the fish, so I took my time slicing what I wanted while the bread was baking.

The parchment paper was cut into four pieces, each twice as big as needed to cover a portion of fish filet. I brushed olive oil on half the parchment, then set a filet on it skin side down. Each filet was topped with slivers of green onion, carrots, and red bell peppers, celery, a thin slice of lemon, and a sprig of thyme. A dab of butter on top and a sprinkling of Kosher salt and ground pepper finished them. Then I folded the back half of each parchment sheet over the front and rolled up the edges to create a seal. Four packets filled up one baking sheet. The oven, still hot from baking the bread, was preheated to 400F, but I didn’t put the fish in the oven until I saw the whites of the kids’ eyes. Baking fish this way goes pretty quickly. There was no mess to clean up because the salad and the cheesecake were already out of the way, and the fruit was easy enough to rinse and put in bowls. After 20 minutes I tested one of the fish filets by opening its packet, and found it to be fork-flaky and done.

We all sat down with a packet on each our plates, but because I’d cut the parchment on the large side, most of us ended up sliding the fish and toppers off the parchment and directly onto the plate, so we’d have room for salad and a chunk of bread. It was a lovely meal, with wine and water, and along with the cheesecake with a little vanilla yogurt and fresh blueberries was so nice and flavorful and meant to be eaten slowly. That’s the kind of meal you can linger over for hours, and without overeating–five hours at the table! It was a lot of fun, it didn’t break the bank, there was plenty to eat and graze at, and the cleanup a snap.