Fish en papillote for family serving?

[Anonymous]

I'm trying a recipe for cooking fish in parchment paper but the recipe calls for individual servings. I'm cooking for three families. Do I need to put each individual serving in it's own parchment packet or can I do one while family size? And how would that adjust the cook time? Recipe calls for 10-15min at 450.

[Anonymous]

Yes, the idea with fish en papillote is individual servings. Make as many as you need.

You could use the same technique with a whole fish, but you'll probably want to start with a recipe that contemplates doing that, so you don't have to do some kind of conversion with the time and temperature.

[Anonymous]

^^^
Part of the fun is each person getting to open their own packet on their own plate at the beginning of the meal. It should stay ready and moist until then and everyone will get the same presentation and aroma at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm. Can I make the packets the night before then ?

[Anonymous]

Mind you, I'm just guessing here, trying to be helpful. If someone knows better, don't jump on me:

I was about to say yeah, go for it. But actually, I don't think I would. The issue is whether whatever preparation you're doing to the fish would start breaking it down. If there's marinade involved, you usually only marinate fish for a half hour or less. Anything more than that and the acid in the marinade starts "cooking" the fish (think how ceviche works), and ultimately could break it down and make it mushy. The same is true if you're using an acid like lemon instead of a full marinade. The acid is going to do a number on the fish overnight.

Even if there's no marinade or acid, just olive oil and aromatics, you still have the question of salt. I assume you're going to use some. If you do it in advance, that may also have an effect on the fish. If you hold off on it, then you can't wrap up the packets in advance--you'll still need to unwrap them to salt & pepper them before cooking. (And I have no idea what olive oil does to fish overnight. I assume not much, but I could be wrong.)

You could experiment on your family first to see how it works out. But for guests, I wouldn't do it unless I'd tried it out in advance. Sorry!

[Anonymous]

If you don't have time to do it day-of, can you just grill a whole fish (or two) instead?

[Anonymous]

Or, can you just chop your veggies and pre-portion your fish the night before, so that assembly goes quicker the day of?

[Anonymous]

Thank you. This is super helpful. I picked the worst meal to cook for three families. Lesson learned.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, but it's going to be impressive. I haven't done this, but DW has, and so has one of her friends. Despite the labor, it was fool-proof and awesome both times. Your guests will rave.

[Anonymous]

OP can you share your recipe?

[Anonymous]

Op here- I got rave reviews. I prepped everything before and then assembled all 15 packets in 30 -40 minutes. I then delivered them to each family (food co-op) so they marinated a little but still got rave reviews. My 4yo even made his packet by layering all the toppings.

Here's the link: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/79058355292/fish-en-papillote-in-parchment-with-citrus

Everything I've made from nomnompaleo is always super tasty. Sometimes flavors are too intense but I like that.

[Anonymous]

Glad it worked, OP!
That's a lot of work for a food co-op. I thought the other two families were coming over for a dinner party! Oh well. You're the fish hero this week.

[Anonymous]

OK, that looks awesome. I'll be trying it soon.