Parchment Baked Sea Bass With Morels And Red Wine Sauce Recipes

PARCHMENT-COOKED FISH WITH MORELS, SPRING GARLIC, AND THYME

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place morel mushrooms in a dry skillet over medium heat and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms release their juice and the juice evaporates, about 5 minutes.
• Sprinkle halibut fillets with salt and black pepper on both sides.
• Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat and cook the halibut fillets until golden brown on the outside, about 2 minutes per side. Remove fish from skillet and set aside.
• Cook and stir garlic scapes in the same skillet used to cook fish until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and stir morel mushrooms and thyme with the garlic scapes until combined.
• Fold a piece of parchment paper in half crosswise. Use scissors to cut a very large valentine-like heart shape out of the folded paper, as large as possible. Repeat with remaining parchment to make 4 large heart shapes.
• Open the heart shapes; brush right sides of the hearts with canola oil.
• Place 1/4 morel mushroom mixture in the left (unoiled) half of each heart. Place a halibut fillet on the mushroom mixture. Sprinkle fish with salt and black pepper.
• Fold the oiled right half of the heart over the fish. Fold about 1/4 inch of parchment paper over, starting at the rounded end, and work your way down to the point, folding as you go. Fold the edge over a second time to enclose fish and mushrooms in a bundle with a double-folded, sealed edge.
• Leave about 1/4 inch of the bottom point unfolded.
• Use a straw inserted into the open bottom to blow air into the bundle, making it puff up like a small balloon. Twist the bottom closed to enclose the air.
• Place parchment bundles on 2 baking sheets; don't let the bundles touch each other.
• Bake in the preheated oven until fish is no longer translucent in the center, about 15 minutes.
• To serve, plate each portion and carefully cut open the parchment to reveal the fish, mushrooms, and juices. Bundle will release hot steam when opened.

SEA BASS IN PAPILLOTE

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil, then drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil.
• Pat fish dry and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Arrange fillets, skin sides down, in 1 layer in center of foil on baking sheet and slide 2 lemon slices under each fillet. Arrange 2 thyme sprigs on top of each fillet.
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté garlic, stirring occasionally, until pale golden, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and a pinch of salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are softened, about 1 minute. Stir in capers.
• Spoon hot tomato mixture over fish, then cover with another sheet of foil, tenting it slightly over fish, and crimp edges together tightly to seal.
• Bake until fish is just cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes (depending on thickness of fish); check by removing from oven and carefully lifting up a corner of top sheet of foil, pulling up sides of bottom sheet to keep liquid from running out. If fish is not cooked through, reseal foil and continue to bake, checking every 3 minutes.
• Transfer fillets with lemon slices to plates using a spatula (be careful not to tear foil underneath) and spoon tomatoes and juices over top. Serve immediately, discarding thyme before eating.

BAKED SEA BASS WITH LEMON CAPER DRESSING

Steps:

• To make the dressing, mix the oil with the lemon zest and juice, capers, mustard, some seasoning and 1 tbsp water. Don't add the parsley yet (unless serving straight away) as the acid in the lemon will fade the colour if they are left together for too long.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Line a baking tray with baking parchment and put the fish, skin-side up, on top. Brush the skin with oil and sprinkle with some flaky salt. Bake for 7 mins or until the flesh flakes when tested with a knife. Arrange the fish on warm serving plates, spoon over the dressing and scatter with extra parsley leaves, if you like.

SAKE SEA BASS IN PARCHMENT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F with a baking sheet on bottom rack.
• Stir together sake, soy sauce, ginger, and sugar in a bowl.
• If fish fillets are more than 4 inches long, fold ends under. Put a fish fillet in center of each parchment square and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt (total). Working with 1 portion at a time, sprinkle fish with some of scallions and spoon some of sake mixture over top (hold up 2 corners of parchment to prevent liquid from running off). Gather sides of parchment up over fish to form a pouch, leaving no openings, and tie tightly with string.
• Bake on hot baking sheet until fish is just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.