Parchment Baked Tilapia

All things considered, I like running outdoors a lot better than sweating it out on the treadmill. But the treadmill has a huge factor in the pro column--magazines.  Glorious magazines left by other gym patrons, waiting to be oogled and pilfered by yours truly.  Calm down.  I don't take the whole magazine, but I do rip out recipes.  Last week I ripped out three recipes on my 3.5 mile run, and the guy next to me didn't notice at all.  Or at least he kindly pretended not to notice.

One recipe I "borrowed" was from this month's Martha Stewart Living, and it was for bass cooked in parchment paper.  If I knew I wouldn't lose readership, I'd devote the next 10 postings to the wonders of parchment paper.  One little paragraph? Please?  Thank you.  It used to be that, when I read recipes which demanded parchment paper, I felt left out.  For one, I could never find it in the grocery store.  And if I could, it was a measly little roll for $5.99.  And I've seen some recipes that say you can substitute waxed paper, but that's not true.  Don't believe them.  So, you wonder aloud, how did The Leftoverist solve this problem?  

Second paragraph.  Sorry.  All is well now that I have begun buying the GIANT box of parchment paper at Cash and Carry.  It sits on top of my fridge, and it's like a security blanket.  Or a fat bank account.  Or any number of comforting things.  It costs around 35 dollars (I know), but it will last me at least until the end of Obama's second term.  (Oh yes. He will have one.) The sheets are flat (no roly poly nonsense) and are restaurant-size full sheets, which means you can get two home baking sheets out of them.  

Third paragraph.  Please stay with me.  Things I use it for (and flagrantly because I have so much):  nachos, cookies, roasted vegetables, oven fries, bacon, as wrapping paper, and between layers of baked goods that I'm giving as gifts.  And now, steaming fish.  Tilapia, to be exact.


Martha's recipe was black bass with soy sauce, sugar, and julienned ginger, and that would have been delicious.  You could also use the dressing from the broccoli bowl posting.  I happened to have some lemongrass dressing around that I made earlier in the week, so I used that along with some serrano peppers, green onions, and red chili flakes.

I stopped at Mutual Fish (a treat I allow myself every 6 or 8 weeks) and noticed that tilapia was only $3.99/lb, and they filleted it right in front of me.  At that price, we can eat this more often.  And Milo and Loretta had more fun in there than if we had paid $40 to go the Pacific Science Center.

So back to the parchment paper.  If you don't have it, I suppose you could steam this fish in foil and it would turn out fine.  My pushy advice is to find a friend or two that might want to go in on a box of the blessed paper.  You might fight over who gets to keep it on top of their fridge, though.

P.S. We ate this with steamed rice and zucchini that was stir-fried with garlic and a little more of the lemongrass dressing.



Parchment Baked Tilapia
adapted from Martha Stewart Living (May 2009)

4 8 oz. fillets of firm-fleshed mild fish (like bass or tilapia)
6 Tb. soy sauce whisked with 1 ts. sugar OR 8 Tb. lemongrass dressing (recipe follows)
6 Tb. julienned (matchstick-shaped) fresh ginger
1/4 c. chopped green onions
1 serrano chile, seeded and cut into rings
red chile flakes

Preheat oven to 400.  Place each fillet in the center of a piece of parchment paper that's big enough to fold up around it.  Top each with a drizzle of soy mixture or lemongrass dressing and a scattering of ginger, green onions, serrano, and chile flakes.  Fold edges to seal, place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Lemongrass Dressing
from Sally Schneider's A New Way to Cook--I'd double this if you're going to the trouble to make it

3 Tb. fresh lime juice
2 Tb. fish sauce
1 Tb. rice vinegar
1 1/2 ts. sesame oil
1 Tb. + 1 ts. sugar
2 ts. grated fresh ginger
1 ts. minced fresh lemongrass (inner white bulb only)
pinch of red pepper flakes

Combine everything as much in advance as possible.  The dressing is better as the flavors develop.

Comments

[Margaret]

I feel so much better now, I thought I was the only one that ripped recipes out of magazines at the doctor's office. After making sure I'm on time, and sit in the waiting room for an hour, and then move to the doctor's office for another half hour, I feel like the magazine should be mine. After all isn't my time worth anything? It's my way of paying them back. and if I wait to long ,I just take the whole magazine and call it even.
Beautiful photo, yummy food, love the praises of parchment paper, I have one of those boxes of parchment paper on my fridge and it has lasted me 5 years ( won't mention how unsanitary it is, sitting up there collecting dust,and how much room it takes up in my little house). but.............. can't live without it !! Hey Naomi Cox, want to go in on a box I'm just about out?
Thanks for keeping us all addicted, and for your passion,that fuels this blog. Keep it coming.We love it.

[Naomi Cox]

Yes, Mama...I'll go in on a box. I really need some!

[bethany]

so i was just wondering where you find the flat sheets of parchment paper. i HATE the rolled version...i can't keep it flat once it's ripped out for the life of me. i think i will be making a trip to cash&carry very soon. THANK YOU for posting so often on your blog. now that i'm checking my FB account every 30 seconds (!), i have something else to check that gets updated nearly as often. :) also, after your post on brussel raab...i realized i have a delicacy growing in my yard! it's going to get eaten tonight!

[Kristen Chege]

So.... my friend Elisabeth Kingsley has been telling me for ages that I need to post a note on your blog. I lived in the Rainier Valley until last fall when my husband and I moved to Egypt. My roommates and I followed your blog religiously in Seattle, but now I must admit that I really am an adict and I SO APPRECIATE that I feel a taste a Seattle every time I see a picture or read a story from you.

Once, when I was feeling slightly homesick, my dear friend suggested that I make chocolate chip cookies to chase away the blues. Well, that started an obsession with cooking to make myself feel like I am at home. And, while it is not always easy to find everything that I am used to here, I have come-up with some creative ways to improvise. Although, some things just don't cut it (Elisabeth is sending me Dulce De Leche sauce in the mail from the US so I can make the cookies you posted about a month ago).

I did buy some Buri fish today at the fish market near our flat and I immediately came home to see what you would suggest for cooking white fish (the first time I have done this from scratch - I was getting pretty good at cooking the kind from Trader Joe's in the freezer section). I don't really even know what Buri is, or if it is called something different in the US. In any case, the guy at the store was pretty excited to tell me that it came from the Nile (little does he know this is not a turn-on for me, as the water in the Nile is pretty much as dirty as it comes). In any case, I hope that one meal from the Nile won't kill us.

Thanks again for everything!

--Kristen