Monday Supper: Salmon en Papillote

This is the dinner that is super-fast (super fast!!) and therefore good for a Monday. I am usually trying to re-orient myself into the weekly routine so something really easy helps the transition.

You will need:

Salmon fillet (hopefully boneless), enough for four people, in one piece. Not salmon steaks

Dried herbs (oregano, thyme) and spices (paprika, curry powder, salt, pepper)

1 c brown rice

1 lb asparagus

Olive oil

Salt, pepper

First, start the rice! There are different directions on every package and there are entire websites dedicated to the optimum cooking of brown rice. I just do this, every time, no matter what type of brown rice:

I rinse one cup of brown rice in cold water until it runs clear:

Must use sieve

I throw it in a pot that has a tight fitting lid with twice as much cold water, so 2 c in this case. I've added about a teaspoon of curry powder (I can post the recipe for that if anyone wants?) to give it some flavour and stirred it. I don't use butter or salt, but lots of people do! I bring to a boil covered, then turn it down as low as I can and let simmer for 40 minutes. Done! And fluffy.

Probably not a necessary picture, but hey

And on to the salmon. Just as easy. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Wash the fillet under cold water, checking for bones. Run your fingers up and down, feeling for the little spiky bits. If you do find any, pull them out with needle nose pliers or a good pair of tweezers. Wash them after. Seriously. Then lay three sheets of tinfoil on a cookie sheet, brushing the top sheet with olive oil. Get out your seasoning mix, which can be your own blend or a commercially available one. I like the potlach seasoning from a well-known kitchen goods store, but any combination of salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, paprika and chili pepper flakes will be amazing. If there is a skin on the underside, you can cut that off with a sharp knife (a boning knife works well, but it takes practice) or just leave it on. Don't worry about seasoning the skin, but if your fillet is skinless toss some onto the bottom, then turn over, brush with olive oil and liberally sprinkle the top.

Much more liberally than this, actually

Start covering the fish with your first layer of tinfoil, starting with the sides, then the top and bottom.

Like zo!

When the first layer is on, flip it over and do the same with the next layer, then flip again and fold in your last layer. When you are done, you should be looking at seam side up on the third piece:

Ready for the oven - or grill

Now, say we weren't in the dying throes of a long winter, you could throw this sucker right onto the BBQ grill. As we are still freezing our bums off out here, I would bake it in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes. Now, every recipe you see if going to tell you to cook salmon for 10 minutes per inch of thickness. Or until a knife held in the middle for ten second comes out hot. Listen to me: neither one of those methods will work here. For one, you are not talking about a direct heat, you are cooking en pappillote, which is a fancy way to say in parchment. In this case, we are using tin foil, but basically we are steaming the fish using it's own moisture. So not only do you not want to stick a knife through three carefully folded pieces of tinfoil to wreck the steaming process, you can't use the 10 minutes per inch. Give it about 30 minutes at least for a small fillet, and up to 40 for a bigger, thicker one.

While that and the rice are cooking, you will want to prep your vegetable, which is asparagus. There are a few methods out there for deciding how much to trim off the asparagus; I just take about 30 percent of the stalk off, rinse in cold water and throw into a steamer basket. I don't find any of the methods work better than that.

Remind me to tell you about the 5" Santoku story

Lose about a third

When the salmon and rice are done, and your significant other (or not-so-significant, no judgement, only love) is just walking through the door, start steaming your asparagus. Steam for 3 minutes while you warm some olive oil in a saute pan at medium-high heat. Once the three minutes is up and the stalks are just softened, take them out of the steamer and into the saute pan. Sprinkle with kosher salt and coarse pepper and toss around in the hot oil for about a minute. Remove and serve immediately.

I know I took a picture, but I can't find it! Bugger! The salmon will look like this:

Dang it all anyway. Anyhow, enjoy! That's Monday!

A couple of quick notes: I like salmon like this better than on a cedar plank, as I find planked salmon tends to dry out more quickly. I also like Atlantic farmed salmon better than the wild, which I know I'm not supposed to. I think it's the fatty fatty fish that gets me. I used brown basmati rice, but any brown rice would work. A nice switch up is using chicken stock instead of water, or using a white rice but doing a whole other recipe "Curried Basmati Rice", which has onions and green peppers,  is also very nice with this meal.