Super Easy Fish & Veggies

"Poisson En Papillote" with zucchini and onions.

When we used to go camping we made what we called ‘Cowboy steaks’. Aluminum pouches of steak, potatoes, carrots, onions, salt and pepper. Once the campfire was going we’d just take them out of the cooler and drop them directly into the ashes to cook for 15-20 minutes. Open them up and instant chow! Fish in paper or as the french call it "Poisson En Papillote" reminds me of those great camping excursions with a seafaring twist. They are child’s play to make and packed with flavor.

Ingredients:

• 2 12 inch squares of parchment paper
• 2 4 oz. White fish fillets
• 2 oz. of dry white wine
• 2 lemon or lime slices
• 1 Tbsp of butter
• 2 sprigs of dill
• 1 cup of sliced zucchini or squash
• 2 oz of sliced onions.
• A little olive oil
• Salt & Pepper

• About 15 minute of prep, about 10-15 minutes of cook time.

• Approximately 2 servings

• Normally a dry white wine is used for the steam and that’s all fine if you have it aboard. I have gotten away with water or even a little light beer. French chefs world around are probably loading up their baguettes to pummel me for this blasphemy; I say adapt and over come, use what you have.
• The biggest trick here is to NOT wrap the pouches too tight. There needs to be room for steam to circulate. Think more tent and less gift wrap.
• In place of parchment paper you can use aluminum foil, but you need to be careful. Aluminum is highly reactive to acid, so things like tomatoes, lemons, or limes can leach aluminum into the food. If you like metal alloy seasoning, no worries, otherwise use parchment paper.
• You can replace the dill or herbs with dried, you just might want to reduce the amount by half or so; dried spices are stronger than fresh.
• Even though the ingredients list is fairly specific, you can eye ball most of the amounts and make veggie and spice alterations to meet your tastes. This is no-holds-barred spontaneous galley cooking at it’s best!

One the left loading up the pouch, on the right the finished product.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Technically you’re supposed to fold the paper in half and cut out half a heart shape to create a ‘Valentines shaped’ pouch, but I’ve found you can fold and crimp almost anything as long as you can get a good seal.
3. Wash and slice zucchini and onions into 1/4 thick slices and toss with a little salt, pepper, and olive oil.
4. Lay the zucchini and onion on one side of the paper to make a bed for the fillets.
5. Season the fish with salt and pepper and place on top of the zucchini.
6. Stack the butter, dill, and lemon slice on top of the fish, in that order.
7. Pour the wine on top of everything.
8. It’s folding time!
9. Fold over the top of the paper and start crimping.
10. To crimp the paper start at the top of the heart and daisy chain the folds all the way around to till you get to the pointy end.
11. At the pointy end twist the paper to lock everything to together.
12. Place the pouches on a cooking sheet and put them in the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes.
13. WARNING! BE EXTEMELY CAREFUL WHEN OPENING THE POUCHES. THE STEAM INSIDE WILL SCALD THE BLEEPING BLEEPITY BLEEP OUT YOU IF YOU ARE NOT CAREFUL.

Enjoy,
Island Rambler