Salmon en Papillote

Cooking en papillote is an easy do-ahead preparation that is virtually foolproof, and it’s a fabulous way to impress guests! Children also enjoy being able to rip open the little present you’ve left on their plates.

Start by removing the pin bones from the fish if it has any. Lay out a sheet of parchment paper. Visually divide the sheet in half, then center the fish in the middle of one half. For this dish, I used a salmon fillet. Season the fish, then add whatever vegetables you wish to serve with it. In addition to salt, I used fresh dill and thinly sliced lemon. For vegetables I used red bell pepper and green beans. The whole was topped with some caramelized onions and about a tablespoon of butter to make a sauce.

Fold the parchment in half and crimp the edges. I find that simply crimping and tucking as I work my way around works fine. Sometimes it takes an extra fold or two to get the package to hold together. Carefully slide the packet onto a baking sheet. If you’re making this ahead of time, put it in the refrigerator until time to cook.

When you’re ready to eat, slide the baking sheet into a medium oven and cook until done. You won’t be able to check for doneness, so be sure you have a good idea how long the fish will take. The salmon fillet I used needed 12 minutes. Remember that when cooking en papillote you’re partially steaming what you’re cooking, so things cook faster. It’s better to stop too soon with fish than to overcook, so err on the side of shorter cooking times. Besides, things keep cooking for awhile in the packet because of residual heat.

Carefully place the packets on plates and serve. Your guests will tear open the packet to release a wonderfully aromatic steam and find everything inside is cooked just right with flavors that are distinct, yet with notes from the other items in the packet.

Pantry: Grenadine

Grenadine is used in many drinks, but the grenadine you can buy in grocery and liquor stores is, well, nasty. And it might not even have any pomegranate in it, but it may contain some “tasty” corn syrup and bright red dye. Unfortunately, pomegranate juice really isn’t bright red, and grenadine shouldn’t set your teeth on edge with sweetness.

There are lots of recipes for grenadine available. Most of them start with bottled pomegranate juice. If you’ve forgotten to plan for the guests arriving in a couple of hours, fine. Make a simple syrup using bottled pomegranate juice. It’ll be better than any grenadine you’ll find in the store. But if you can plan ahead a bit, hand-crafted grenadine requires nothing more than fresh pomegranates and a few days.

When selecting pomegranates, be sure to reject any that have a brownish area at the blossom end because they’re past their prime and will have an “off” flavor. Carefully cut the pomegranate open crosswise, then remove the seeds using a spreader or other blunt-end knife. Avoid the cottony white pith; it’s very bitter. If you want to buy just the seeds, go ahead.

Measure the quantity of seeds; you’ll get about one cup from one ripe pomegranate. Put the seeds and an equal amount of sugar into the work bowl of a food processor and add one-fourth as much water. That’s a 4:4:1 ratio, and it scales up nicely; one pomegranate will produce about six ounces of grenadine. Pulse a few times to make a rough purée. The object is to break open the pulpy membranes and release the juice. If you don’t have a food processor, a blender will work fine.

Pour the purée into a glass bowl, cover with a cloth, and let stand at room temperature for 3 days, stirring now and then. Place the bowl into a larger bowl with some water in it to avoid sharing with ants. If you taste every time you stir, you’ll find the flavor deepens and richens over time, and that the color darkens slightly.

To finish, line a sieve with dampened butter muslin or two layers of dampened cheesecloth, place over a saucepan, and drain the purée for two or three hours, extracting all the juice without any pressure. Then place the saucepan over medium-low heat, raising the temperature of the syrup to about 180°F/82°C and no higher than 200°F/93°C; you should see tiny bubbles rising to the surface. Cook for about 3-5 minutes at temperature. Pour into a sterilized bottle, cool, cap, and store in the refrigerator.

You may find you need to adjust your cocktail recipes somewhat when using hand-crafted grenadine. It isn’t as sweet, so you might need more.

Easy Entertaining: Red Potato Canapés

These canapés are very popular, and generally pretty easy, but they do require that you own a nice melon baller and have the time to first cut a large quantity of creamers in half, and then scoop out the insides after baking.

You’ll need at least one potato per guest–two is better. Clean them, then cut them in half. Dip each potato half in extra virgin olive oil–I used rosemary-pink peppercorn oil–and arrange on a half sheet or other shallow baking pan. Bake at 350° until fork tender, then let cool.

Carefully scoop out most of the potato, leaving enough behind to make a nice little bowl. Mash the scooped-out potato with your favorite additions. This is a good time to break out the crème fraîche, and be sure to use some fresh chives. Spoon or pipe the mashed potatoes back into the empty halves.

When you’re about ready to serve them, return the potatoes to the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, just until the top starts to color. Best served warm, but delicious when room temperature. They are a bit messy, so have plenty of napkins available.

Easy Entertaining: White Bean Spread

When you need to make something tasty to serve guests at a party, it’s nice to have simple and inexpensive dishes in your repertoire. It really doesn’t get much simpler than opening a can and seasoning to taste.

White Bean Spread

1-15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon basil chiffonade
1 tablespoon parsley (I used both flat-leaf and curly)
3 cloves garlic confit (if you use raw garlic, 1 clove should be plenty)
juice of ½ large lemon
½ sea salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Put everything except the olive oil into the work bowl of a food processor and purée until smooth. While the processor is running, drizzle the olive oil in until you’ve reached the desired consistency.

Serve as a dip with pita bread, or as a spread on crostini.