Recipe Notes: Cod Baked in Foil with Leeks and Carrots

26 May 2019

Recipe from America's Test Kitchen

In Boy Scouts we called them "hobo dinners" and they were cooked on a campfire. In restaurants you can get meals, often fish, cooked en Papillote. Fish, vegetables, and seasoning are closed in a pouch of foil or paper and baked. In the closed environment the food steams efficiently, the flavors meld, and nothing is lost. The ATK TV show featured such a meal created using cod. In my quest to learn more fish recipes, I tried it.

The published recipe was for four people. Since fish is not usually good as a leftover, I made half the recipe. Prep consisted of several steps. A compound butter was made with butter, lemon zest, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. A garnish was made with parsley, lemon zest, and garlic. The skinless cod fillet was cut into two pieces, each about 6 ounces, patted dry, and seasoned with salt and pepper. A carrot and leek were cut into 2-inch matchsticks, seasoned with salt and pepper, and mounded on a sheet of foil. A tablespoon of white wine was added to each mound (in place of the vermouth in the recipe). The fish was put on top of the vegetables and smeared with the seasoned butter. A second sheet of foil was placed on top and the two sheets crimped together. The two packets were placed on a rimmed baking sheet and placed into the oven at 450° for 15 minutes. After that time they were removed from the oven, the packets opened, and the fish, vegetables, and accumulated juices transferred to plates. They were garnished with the parsley mixture and served. The total time was 55 minutes, the last 15 of which was hands off.

The success of this recipe depends on the preparation of the fish and vegetables since the cooking is blind with no opportunity to check for doneness. The fish, in particular, needs to be the right thickness. The thickest fillets I found might have been a little thinner than the specified 1 inch, thus they were just a tad overdone. Likewise, I may have cut the vegetables too small as they were also a tad overdone. That being said, this was a good dish and worth doing again. The fish was flaky and juicy, for the most part. It could have used some more seasoning, perhaps putting salt and pepper on both sides rather than just one would fix that. Or maybe it was because it is cod which does not have a strong flavor.  I thought there was too much leek and not enough carrot.