Parchment or foil packages seal in the flavors of the fish, vegetables and sauce as they cook. A great recipe for dinner parties. From “BLT: New American Bistro Cooking” by Laurent Tourondel, serves 6.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus 6 teaspoons for drizzling over fish
4 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 can (28 ounces) plum tomatoes, strained and chopped
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 ounces (one big bunch) fresh sorrel leaves, stems removed
6 halibut fillets, 7 to 8 ounces each
6 teaspoons dry white wine
1 egg white, lightly beaten, if using parchment paper
Directions
Preheat oven to 450.
Make sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and saute until tender, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Bring sauce to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes, or until sauce is chunky and nearly dry. Stir in heavy cream and cook sauce for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Make papillotes: Lay six sheets of parchment paper or foil, about 20 inches by 12 inches each, flat on a countertop. Put 2 large spoonfuls of prepared sauce in center of each sheet. Arrange sorrel leaves over sauce.
Season halibut on both sides with salt and pepper, and put 1 fillet on each piece of paper on top of sorrel. Drizzle fish with 1 teaspoon each of olive oil and wine. Fold long edges of paper up around fish until they meet. If using parchment paper, brush 1 outside edge with egg white as glue. Fold paper over once to seal. Tie ends with butcher twine. The finished package should look like a giant hard candy in its wrapper.
Arrange packets on 2 cookie sheets and bake until they begin to puff up, 9-10 minutes. Serve fish in packages on 6 dinner plates. Carefully slit paper and pull it open.
Wine ideas: Play up the lemony zing of sorrel and match the weight of the halibut with a sauvignon blanc. A crisp-yet-fruity California version like Babcock ($30) or 39 Degrees ($14) should do the trick. Tara Q. Thomas
