Flounder Papillote

Since Laura doesn't really like to eat meat OR fish, it kind of limits what we can make for dinner. But Laura said she'd give fish a shot if we did one thing:  Try a fish recipe from the Food Network! Laura is an avid (maybe an understatement) Food Network viewer, so once we pulled a recipe from her favorite television channel, she was ready to experiment.

And by her reaction after we ate, it was a success!

Now this recipe was constructed by Melissa D'Arabian of the Food Network, and if you want to see some reviews, or video instructional video on how to make this dish, click here. (Note:  This is Melissa D'Arabian's recipe, not mine!) We decided to use different vegetables for this meal, and you can use any ones you love. She used carrots, I prefer squash.

For this recipe, you'll need:

• 1/2 red onion, julienned
• 1/2 squash, julienned
• 1/2 zucchini, julienned
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 (4-ounce)  flounder fillets 
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 pats butter
• 1/4 cup white wine

You also need parchment paper for this recipe. I got some from and it cost around $4. You also need flounder fillets, and instead of going to a local supermarket to grab some, I went toon Sunrise Highway,  It's a little pricier, but the fish is always fresh and the service is impeccable. A pound of flounder (4 fillets) costs around $16.

First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, mix the veggies with salt, pepper and olive oil. Now before you place the flounder on the parchment paper, make sure you take out enough paper that you can fold it entirely over the fish. That is VERY important.

Place the flounder on the parchment paper, and season it with salt and pepper. Put the vegetables evenly over the flounder, and top the veggies with two slices of lemon, two sprigs thyme, a pat of butter and 1/4 cup of white wine.

Now comes the hard part: folding the parchment paper. It's important that the ends are sealed because if the steam escapes, you're pretty much screwed. Here's a video (fast forward to about 1:30) on how to fold it right. You want to fold and crease the edges to seal it. It should look like a crescent moon when you're done. 

Once that's done, throw it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. For the best taste, once it's done, slice the paper open from the top and eat it straight out of the parchment paper! If you try to take it out and place it on a plate, you could lose a lot of the juices, and you need those!