| Halibut Baked in Parchment Paper |
| Serves 4 |
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| Ingredients | Directions |
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1 cup fish stock or clam juice 1/2 cup dry white wine |
Preheat oven to 400F. Combine fish stock and wine in a skillet over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. |
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parchment paper 1 Tbsp butter 4 soup bowls |
Cut 4 square pieces of parchment paper (about 12" on each side). Butter one side of each piece of parchment paper leaving a 2" border unbuttered. Put each piece of parchment paper on top of a soup bowl buttered side up. |
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8 ft kitchen string |
Cut string into 4 pieces (each piece should be 2 ft long). |
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4 halibut fillets (6oz each) salt and black pepper 4 tsp butter |
Remove skin from halibut fillets. Season them with salt and pepper and place each piece in into the parchment paper lined bowl. Pour 2 Tbsp of the hot stock/wine liquid onto each piece of fish and top with a teaspoon of butter. Raise the edges of the parchment paper into the center to form a bundle (like a purse) and tie with the string leaving a very small opening on top, about 1/4" in diameter, so that fish can breath. Get the bundles out of bowls, and place them on a baking sheet. Bake in the middle of preheated 400F oven for 10 minutes. While the fish is baking, boil down the remaining stock and wine to reduce by half, about 5 minutes. |
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1 tsp butter softened 1 tsp flour |
In a small bowl, mix flour and butter with a fork until they form a smooth paste. Reduce the heat to med-low and whisk the flour butter paste into the reduced liquid until no lumps remain, and the liquid thickens. |
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1/3 cup heavy cream |
Whisk the cream into the thickened stock mixture and bring to a simmer. |
| 2 Tsbp chopped sorrel, parsley, or dill |
Take the skillet with the sauce off heat and stir in the herbs. Remove the fish from the oven. Place one bundle back into the soup bowl and untie. Check if halibut is done by separating the flakes with a fork. If the flakes do not come apart, tie the bundle back together, return it to the baking sheet and bake another 2-3 minutes. When halibut is done, put all bundles back into bowls, untie them, and pour the liquid from them into the skillet with the sauce. Whisk to integrate. You can leave the fish in parchment paper or you can remove the paper and place the fish straight into plates. Spoon the sauce over fish. Serve with good crusty bread and buttered peas or other vegetables. |