Now I know I say this all the time… but I’m saying it again: I feel so fortunate to live in Seattle where we have easy access to fresh seafood.  Fresh, delicious fish like Pacific Sole, which has the benefit of being a sustainable and plentiful fish, unlike the overfished Atlantic Sole – if you are interested in keeping up to date on which fish are better choices for long term sustainability you should check out the up to date list over at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Plus… it tastes great! 

The other lovely bonus about eating Pacific Sole is that it is inexpensive.  I purchased fresh fillets and got 4 in a package for only $3.00, so it goes to show that you can have an exquisite seafood feast on the cheap.

Once I got these beautiful fillets of white flat fish home I was contemplating the myriad of ways in which to prepare them.  I really wanted fresh flavors so I opted to marinate the Sole with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon slices, thinly shaved garlic, salt capers and a teeny hit of white wine, I let this marinate covered in the fridge for about an hour.

After the fillets finished marinating I slid them on to my parchment paper… where they would be cooking away in their own juices being steamed to perfection.

I ended up deciding on making a parchment pouch to bake them “en papillote”.  “En Papillote” is a French term for “in parchment”.  The technique is basically lay down a sheet of parchment, put your food and spices in the parchment, lay another sheet on top and then start rolling up the edges (similar to rolling up the edges of a pie crust) until you have made a pouch and then cooking your meal “en papillote”.

An alternative way is to take one big sheet of parchment paper and make an envelope by bringing the sides together – similar to wrapping a present except you will bring those edges together, start folding to seal and then repeat with the open ends.  You don’t need to use parchment paper for this technique to work – you can use aluminum foil too.  It’s just like camping as a kid and doing a Foil Dinner Pouch around the campfire.  I bet you didn’t realize you were using some fancy French cooking techniques as a youngster ;)  Go young little You!

Once the pouch is all closed up – you pop it in to a pre-heated 350 degree oven.  The amount of time depends on how much fish and how thick that fish is.  For my 4 fillets I kept it cooking for about 20 minutes and the fish came out perfect.

Now I don’t really have a recipe for this – as you see it’s simply a process of throwing some stuff in to a pouch and baking it in it’s own steam until done.  You can get totally creative with this, and you can even get the family in on the fun.  Let the kids pick some healthy veggies to throw in to the pouch – trust me when kids get to help make their food and it feels fun they will eagerly eat what they made.  This was a technique I employed quite a bit with my niece when she was a little tot and a picky eater.  As a teen she now has an expanded and well rounded palate that I like to think I helped contribute to just a little.

So let’s wrap up the details here for you to knock this out for your family:

1. 350 degree Pre-Heated Oven

2. Fish, Meat, Tofu and/or Veggies

3. Salt & Pepper

4. Your favorite flavorings: spices, garlic, peppers, capers, citrus, honey, soy, uzu… go crazy

5. Splash of White Wine or Water or Beer

6. Parchment Paper or Foil

Stuff it all in the Parchment Paper, make it in to a pouch, put it in the oven and there ya go.  Dinner is served.

You can make these “En Papillote” dinners a day ahead, put them in the fridge and when you come home from work you will have a delicious meal ready to go without any fuss (and without a baking pan to clean up!)

You can also make these dinners vegan and gluten free – let your imagination take you on a delectable journey!

This is one of those rare posts where the food was so delicious that I totally forgot to stop and take a picture of the finished dish to share with you all.  It looked beautiful, perfectly steamed fish and aromatics and we served it with a lovely side salad with a simple vinaigrette.

In the Pacific Northwest there is one fish that is King, and that fish is Salmon.  Whether you get it at your local Farmer’s Market, the Fisherman’s Terminal in Ballard, from the flying fish guys at Pike Place Market or you catch it yourself, Salmon is best here in the Northwest.  Summertime is the perfect time of year for putting our local fishy royalty on the grill.  And there isn’t a recipe that is easier than this.

To take it up another notch without complicating things, you can throw the salmon on to a Cedar Plank (you can find these online and in some local grocery stores like Metropolitan Markets, PCC & Thriftway).

Cedar Planking gives the Salmon a rich, delicious smoky flavor and it really could not be simpler.  A few tips before you get started:

• Make sure that the wood you are using is Food Safe – a Cedar Shingle from the hardware store is loaded with industry chemicals that can make you very sick
• Soak the Cedar Plank for at least 3 hours in salted water before you plan on using it
• Use fresh Salmon – check out your local fish market, the fresher the better
• Keep the skin on the Salmon, it helps make it easier to remove the Salmon from the plank

Cedar Plank Salmon
This recipe can easily be doubled

• 1 Cedar Plank
• 1 lb Salmon, skin on, cut into fillets
• 1 Orange, cut into round slices, then halved
• 1 Red Onion, cut into round slices, then halved
• 5-6 sprigs of fresh Rosemary
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper, coarsely ground
• 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Red Chili Flake or Chili Threads

Soak your Cedar Plank for at least 3 hours in salted water (Just enough salt in the water so that you can taste it, all it really is there to do is help season the fish during grilling).
Pull the Cedar Plank out of the water soak and lay the Salmon, skin side down, on the plank.  Place half a slice of Orange and Red Onion in between each piece of Salmon, followed by a sprig of Rosemary.
Now to season it: Drizzle the Olive Oil over the top, followed by the Black Pepper, Salt and Chili.  Set this aside and get your grill ready.
You will be grilling over a medium high heat setting.  If you have a gas grill simply turn your dial to Medium-High.  For Charcoal, get your coals ready and hold your hand over the center of the flame about 6″ above the actual grill, if you can comfortably leave your hand there for about 7-8 seconds your coals are ready.

Now the simplest part – stick the planks on the grill, put the lid on the grill, wait 20-25 minutes and they are done.
Tip: Do not keep opening up the grill to check on the fish.  You will lose all the delicious smoke that has built up in the grill and your fish won’t get that nice smoky flavor.

I like to use the boards to serve the fish, either put them on a platter, baking sheet or piece of foil to prevent the scorched underside from leaving any marks on tabletops.  Enjoy!

Full disclosure: I have received no compensation from PCC , Metropolitan Market, Thriftway or any other organizations mentioned for this article.

Images by Kelly Cline ©2010 All Rights Reserved
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