Simple Eats - Salmon en Papillote

At the request of a friend with minimal culinary ability, today's post is about how to cook a delicious piece of fish without much effort or cleanup. Cooking in a paper pouch, or en papillote, is a great way to seal in flavor and keep the mess down. Simply throw out the paper when done! We eat this dish once a week, as our local grocer has excellent wild caught salmon pre-portioned and frozen. Of course you can use fresh salmon, or any other fish, but this works so well I had to write about it. The salmon is incredibly moist and flavorful, very easy to make, and the cleanup is akin to busing your own tray at a hamburger joint. Trust me when I tell you, you will make this more than once. Oh, and tin foil is fine in place of parchment paper, but I prefer parchment.

1 piece of salmon, with or without skin (about 1 lb)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 oz fresh dill*
sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon, ends removed and sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 sheet of parchment paper, at least twice as big as the fish
1 sheet pan


Place the parchment paper on the sheet pan. Place the fish in the middle of the paper. Coat the fish with the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover the top of the fish with the garlic and dill, then place the lemon rounds over the dill.

To close the package, bring the two long sides of the paper together above the fish, and fold over several times sealing as you go. You are trying to make a tight seal in the paper, so several folds work well. Fold the paper down close to the fish. The ends will be open still. Twist each end closed and tuck under the package. Place the sheet pan with the fish in a 375 degree preheated oven for about 15 minutes.

Remove the fish from the oven and carefully open the package. Be careful of the escaping hot steam. You can scrape the lemon and dill off before serving if you like, or leave it for garnish. I like to serve this with brown rice and glazed asparagus (butter and garlic).


* Fresh dill is an excellent bedfellow for salmon, and be sure to use plenty. The flavor is tremendous, and redolent of the best gravlox. If you can't get fresh dill, dried is fine. Use about 1 or 2 tablespoons of dried, being sure to cover the salmon. Experiment with other herbs as well - tarragon is great, especially if you use butter instead of olive oil.