Flounder in Parchment

Hey there friends!  I'm back with a recipe this time.  Sometimes, (ok, most times) after eating lots of junk/bad food, I get the desire to go back to basics and eat something simple but tasty.  Last night, I finally had some time to cook.  Unfortunately, I didn't really have much food in the house since I haven't been around to go grocery shopping.  Thankfully, we've been doing pretty well though with keeping some stuff in the freezer, and keeping certain dry goods on hand so there was enough for me whip something up with a little creativity.

I made this with flounder fillets (first time cooking flounder actually), but any sort of thin mild fish (like tilapia) or thin chicken breast would work equally well.  This also could be a great dish for a dinner party since the presentation is pretty, without it taking any additional effort.  That's always a win in my book.  This turned out really tasty and definitely was a nice pick me up after the past few weeks of eating out. Here we go:

Flounder Cooked in Parchment
Serves 2
Ingredients:
(2) thin fillets of flounder (or other fish/chicken) (4-6 oz each)
(1-1/2) TBS Olive Oil
Few sprigs of rosemary (or your preferred herb)
(4) thin Lemon slices
(1/2) Cup white wine
(2) Carrots thinly sliced
(1) Medium onion thinly sliced
Salt and Pepper
(1/2) Cup dry Quinoa
(1) Cup Water

To Do:

- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
- Put the quinoa and water in a small pot on the stove and cover.  Turn the stove to high heat until the water comes to a boil.  Once it's at a boil, lower the heat so it's just simmering.  On my gas stove this means I take the heat down most of the way. (If I was Anne Burrell on Worst Cooks I'd be chanting "Bring to boil, reduce to simmer"and dancing, but I'm not, so obviously I don't do that. Right.)  Keep an eye on it, but around when the fish is done all the liquid should be absorbed by the quinoa, rendering it done.
- Slice your carrots and onions and lemon
- Grab 2 pieces of parchment paper or aluminum foil, about 9"x12" each.  Fold them in half, like a book.  If we were comparing types of folds, this would be a hamburger fold, not a hot dog fold
- On one half of each parchment drizzle some of the olive oil, then sprinkle some salt and pepper
- Lay each fillet on top of the oil, moving it around and flipping it over so the oil and seasoning gets on both sides
- Place the fish in the center of the parchment side.  Place your carrots and onions on top of the fish.  I like to spread them out over the whole fish so it's covered.
- Take (2) lemon slices for each fish, and put them on top of the carrots and onions.  Then take some of the herb sprigs and place them around the lemon. (If you keep the herbs on their stems it's easier to remove after cooking so you don't get a mouthful of overpowering herb)
- Pour half the wine over each fish
- Now we create the packets.  Fold the one side over the fish, then fold/roll the 3 remaining sides so they stay closed and enclose the fish.  You want it to stay closed so the fish gets cooked by a combination of steam and baking.
- Put your 2 fish packets on a baking sheet and place them in the middle rack of the oven.  Set your timer for 15 minutes
- Once the fish is done cooking, place some quinoa on each plate.  Give each plate a fish packet, let sit for 2 minutes, and then carefully unwrap.  Enjoy the steam that rises, and bite into your tasty fish

And now some photos!

I hope you enjoy!  Let me know how yours turns out.