Through a challenging and stressful year both personally and professionally, I seemed to have drifted away from my blog which at one point I cherished so. Slowly but surely inspiration for the blog is filling up and getting up.
A new series to the blog I would like to introduce is called ‘Taking the Fear Away from Fish’. As a cook, retail fish manager, and educator the topics I often discuss are ways to get people to take home a restaurant quality piece of fish (or better) and easily cook it and enjoy cooking it.
Impeccably fresh fish, and a few simple yet quality ingredients is all I ever preach. If you have the time and a kitchen modeled after a 3-star restaurant then that is another thing. Simple and quality ingredients require only simple preparations to be enjoyed.
Take for instance en papillote. Simply defined, en papillote cooking is steaming the whole meal in a (parchment) bag. Whether you use a large bag for the whole fillet of fish or individual ones for each guest, en papillote is one of the easiest yet elegant preparation for a pristine fillet. The aromas and juices from whatever veggies you are cooking mingle with the delicate briny flavor of the fish and vice versa. The bag can be brought to the table and snipped open to allow a pleasant whoosh of aroma to fill the air and your guest’s senses. The cleanup? Well I’ll let you think to that…
AUSTIN BANACH 