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9/17/2010

It's In the Bag


No, really! This week's recipe is in a bag...pouch...whatever. I've heard a lot about this "pouch cooking" concept. Alton Brown has a Good Eats episode about it called "The Pouch Principle" and you can buy steam-in bags of veggies at the grocery store (and we do). There are even special bags you can buy to do all your own steaming, but, if you watch the above-mentioned Good Eats episode, the idea of buying special steam bags will seem a bit silly. Why? Because you can just use aluminum foil. Okay, maybe the special bags have merit when it comes to microwave meals, but I don't have any recipes for that. That just leaves the question, what did I cook up this week?
...
*Drum Roll*
...

Salmon! Yes, after an unfortunate fail on some lovely salmon fillets a while back (the sauce the recipe called for was really salty, blech!), my husband and I decided it was time for a do-over.

Sidenote: I am a huge fan of do-overs and I think everyone else should be too.

Carrying on, while talking to my good friend Jennifer, I expressed the need to find a recipe for said salmon. She mentioned this pouch idea and pretty much gave me today's recipe.

Pouch-Steamed Salmon
-Two salmon fillets
-Two lemons
-One red onion
-Fresh dill
-Salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the lemons to create slices and the onion to create rings. I used a mandolin slicer for both. Lay out a large piece of tinfoil and layer half the onions and half the lemon slices on one half of the foil. Place the salmon fillets on this bed skin side down. Then season the fillets with salt and pepper to taste. Layer the dill on top, followed by the rest of the lemon slices, followed then by the onions. Fold the foil over the whole thing and roll/crimp the edges to create a sealed pouch. Slide the pouch onto a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 20 to 40 minutes until the flesh of the fish flakes with a fork. Ours took 40 minutes because it was still semi-frozen.

I like using a mandolin slicer for really simple slices like this. This one is pretty cheap, but it works.


The basic assembly setup.



The assembly process. It's kind of like building a big sandwich.


Fold, roll, and crimp to seal the pouch.


The baking sheet is mostly for stability and containment of any leaks.


Test, extract, and plate.

Mmmmm, this was a great recipe and so healthy too! Did I mention it was easy as well? I must find more recipes using this method! If anyone knows any sites, please share. Mike and I paired the fish with some creamy risotto (*drool*) and baby broccoli. We did find that the dill stuck to the fish a little bit, but a pair of tongs pulled it off pretty easily. Seriously, I want to do tons more recipes like this. I hope you have as much success with this cheap and easy method as I did.

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