Sea Bass Fillet in a Parchment Pouch with Ginger, Broccoli and Cherry Tomatoes

We usually grill our fish outside but heavy rains caused me to look for an alternative cooking method for the fresh Sea Bass fillets. This led me to try the “en papillote” method [translated "wrapped in paper"], that I had seen so many times on popular cooking shows. 

Needless to say – the technique works, the fish was succulent and the vegetables were divine; the extra perk - easy to clean up and no lingering fish smell in the house. 

[Preparation time: 15 min + cooking time 15-20 minutes]

Servings: 4 portions – easily doubled

Pre-Heat Oven – to 200°C/400°F

Ingredients: 

·        4 Sea Bass fillets

·        8 cubes of frozen ginger and/or fresh ginger sliced matchstick thin

·        12 small broccoli florets – slightly blanched

·        16 cherry tomatoes, halved

·        2 stalks of scallions – sliced thinly

·        4 tablespoons of dry white wine

·        1 teaspoon kosher salt

·        Black pepper – finely ground

Ø     One large oven-sized pan with a rim

 Slivers of scallions (left), broccoli florets (center),
dry white wine (right corner), cherry tomatoes halved

Marinade, cherry tomatoes halved, Slivers of scallion, broccoli florets (top) 
Sea Bass fillets on parchment paper (bottom)  

Ingredients: 
Ø  Marinade
·        1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

·        ½ small red onion, finely chopped

·        Juice of 1 lemon

·        2 teaspoons olive oil

Preparation:

Ø  Marinade

·        In a large bowl, whisk together the juice of 1 lemon, the mustard, 

    ½ teaspoon salt and a pinch of finely ground pepper

·      Whisk in the olive oil – set aside

 Marinade mixture

 Preparation:

Ø  Assembling Parchment Pouches

·        On a work surface place your parchment paper. Fold to make a triangle, crease the fold.

·        Open the triangle – place ginger cubes and fresh ginger left of the fold

          Slivers of fresh ginger (left) -
frozen cubes of ginger (right)

     Ginger
[fresh slivers and frozen cubes]
placed to the right of the fold in the
parchment paper

·        Set the Sea Bass fillet, skin side down, on the ginger

·        Season with a light sprinkle of kosher salt

Sea Bass fillet placed on the ginger on the parchment paper 

·       Add the broccoli and tomatoes to the Marinade and toss to coat evenly
·        Mound vegetables onto the Sea Bass fillets, take care to evenly distribute the vegetables   (i.e.8 cherry tomatoes halves, 4 broccoli florets, per fillet)

·        Top with slivered scallions
·        Drizzle 1 tablespoon of white wine over each portion 
·        Sprinkle lightly with black pepper

Sea Bass fillet dressed with broccoli and tomatoes coated with marinade -
topped with slivered scallions

·        Fold the parchment over to make a triangle 
·    Crimp the edges into a half moon shape be sure to close the parchment pouches completely
   so steam cannot escape while baking

Folding parchment paper

Assembly line of Sea Bass fillets [individual portions]
waiting to be folded and crimped

One portion of Sea Bass in sealed parchment pouch

·        Carefully transfer parchment packets to a rimmed baking pan – 
    [you should be able to get four (4) portions on a single oven-sized pan]

·        Bake 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets at 200°C/400°F

v  Note: Never open the parchment packet to check on the fish

Filled parchment pouches on baking pan  

The parchment pouches may brown on the outside this will not affect the taste of the fish 

To Serve:

Carefully transfer each pouch to a plate – to open: gently rip the top of each parchment pouch

Succluent Sea Bass fillet with ginger, broccolli, cherry tomatoes and slivers of scallions 

 Optional: lemon wedges to serve; pan toast some silvered almonds and sprinkle over fish just before serving; substitute spinach for the broccoli  

Quick Tomato Soup with Rice and Quick Simple Homemade Croutons

[A quick apology to all my loyal readers for the rather long break; I hope you will continue to follow my food blog and look forward to your comments and e-mails.]

v v v

This is a truly fanstastic and simple recipe. This soup works as a quick light afternoon lunch and as a starter for a larger meal. It can also be served cold.
This soup is easy and simple to make, also very inexpensive.

This recipe is for 4 generous servings – just double or triple as needed.

[Preparation time: less than 10 minutes + cooking time 20 minutes]

Servings: 4 portions

Ingredients:                                                 

For the Soup:

·      4 cups of ready-made bottled tomato juice [any brand]
·    4-5 whole cloves of garlic smashed
·   1/3 cup of uncooked rice**
·   Salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste
·   Pinch of sugar
·   6-8 basil leaves thinly sliced (Chiffonade - see below)
 
Optional: Grated Pecorino Cheese, Olive Oil
 

Tomato juice; fresh basil; garlic cloves, rice

Preparation:
·    Add the tomato juice into a medium size pot with a cover
·    Add Whole smashed garlic
·    Add the Rice
·    Season with salt, pepper and don't forget a pinch of sugar
·    Cook about 10-15 minutes on medium flame stirring occassionally
  until the rice softens

Tomato juice; with garlic cloves, rice - in a pot

 **be careful not to use too much rice - or you will get tomato mush!


. . . While your soup is cooking
 Quick Simple Homemade Croutons
[make these croutons should be made while the soup is cooking]

[Preparation time: 5 minutes + cooking time 10 minutes]
Servings: 4 portions

Ingredients:

· 4 slices of bread – cubed
· 1/3 cup olive oil
· 4 cloves finely chopped garlic

Cubed bread; olive oil, chopped garlic 

Preparation:

· Add olive oil to a medium sized frying pan.
· Add the chopped garlic  

Olive oil and chopped garlic

 
· Add the bread cubes and begin to lightly fry – turning constantly.
·   Stir and mix a bit to coat the bread with the garlic.
 

Cubed bread added to garlic and olive oil

· The croutons are ready when they begin to brown all over.

Note: be careful not to burn the garlic.

To Serve:

·  Scoop a couple of generous ladles of tomato rice soup into a bowl.

·  Add some croutons.
·  Sprinkle with Chiffonade of Basil [see below].


Tomato Rice Soup with Croutons and Chiffonade of Basil

· Optional: sprinkle some grate pecorino cheese* and a splash of olive oil


Tomato Rice Soup with Croutons and Chiffonade of Basil
Grated Pecorino Cheese and a splash of olive oil





 

*We recommend Grated Pecorino Cheese, or Reggio Parmesan.



To Chiffonade of Basil - roll leaves and then thinly slice

Looking forward to hearing from you all soon. Capricorn!

Walnut and Dry Fruit [Freezer] Coffee Cake

When I started writing this I was at a loss as to how to accurately describe this wonderful Walnut and Dry Fruit Coffee Cake. I always have one of these cakes in my freezer, yes the freezer! I make a batch using small silicon loaf pans or small aluminium pans, freeze them and then simply thinly "slice" when I have unexpected guests or I feel like a quick taste of something sweet and chewy. If you don't have walnuts around you can use pecans or a mix of walnuts and pecans. I didn't have light raisins at home so I used only dark raisins, you can use some dried cranberries also. The important thing to remember is to keep the total amount of dry fruits the same so the cake has a nice balance of textures and colors. This is a freezer cake that is certainly worth having around.

[Super easy]
Preparation time:

(if you have all the ingredients) 10 minutes + 50 minutes baking time

Grease 3 long aluminum (disposable) loaf pans or 7 small loaf pans (see picture below)

Dark raisins, cake flour, walnuts, chocolate chips, sliced dry apricots, eggs, sugar and in the center cinnamon, salt and vanilla sugar

Ingredients

6 eggs

18 tablespoons (a bit less than 1½ cups) of sugar

450 grams (about 4½ cups) of walnuts and/or pecans (slightly broken)
120 grams (about ¾ cup) of light raisins (light)

80 grams (½ cup) dark raisins [note: I only used dark raisins]

100 grams (a bit less than 1 cup) dried apricots (diced or sliced)

300 grams (about 1½ cups) chocolate chips

18 tablespoons (a bit less than 1½ cups) cake flour plus a pinch of salt
Optional: ADD  about 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar

Preparation

In a VERY large bowl:

u Mix eggs and sugar until well blended (by hand)

u Mix together the nuts, raisins, chocolate chips (in a separate smaller bowl)

u Add the nuts, raisins, chocolate chips to the egg and sugar mixture

The dry apricots, raisins, walnuts and chocolate chips are coated with 

 the egg, sugar, cinnamon, salt and vanilla sugar mixture - 

the mixture will look glossy and a bit bubbly

u Mix until well coated.

u Add the flour to the wet mixture

Don't be afraid to add the flour to the wet mixture! 

u Mix all the ingredients until well-coated with flour

Coated with flour the ingredients look pasty 

u Divide the mixture into the prepared pans (I usually don’t grease my pans)
u Gently drop the pans on the counter this helps the mixture to settle into the pan 

Before baking 

u Bake at 150°C for 40 or 50 minutes, depending on the size of the pans

      – test with toothpick – it should come out almost dry but not too dry

After baking 

u Cool the cakes completely - cakes may look dry but they are not

u Place your aluminum pans with cake directly into freezer bags

u Remove cakes from silicon pans; put the cakes directly into freezer bags

u Freeze overnight 
u Do NOT defrost before slicing!

u To serve slice VERY THIN SLICES (see below)
     [I suggest using a strong sharp knife or cleaver]

  Thin slices - about 1/4 inch thick

          Lovely nuts and dry fruit                   

It's nice to be back - I am looking forward to hearing about your success with this coffee cake and to hearing your comments and suggestions at capricorncooks@gmail.com