The great New Orleans classic: a pompano fillet cooked en papillote with butter, white wine, and a bouquet of fine herbs, yielding delicately flavored, tender flesh.
Ingredients
- 4 pieces fresh pompano fillet (pompanneau), about 175 g each
- 80 g unsalted butter
- 120 ml dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc or Muscadet)
- 2 pieces shallots
- 2 tbsp fresh fine herb mixture (flat-leaf parsley, tarragon, chives, chervil)
- 1 piece lemon
- to taste fine salt
- to taste ground black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200 °C, preferably using convection. Place the rack in the middle.
- Cut 4 large sheets of parchment paper, about 35 × 35 cm each. Fold each sheet in half to mark the center, then unfold.
- Peel and finely slice the shallots. Wash, dry, and finely chop the fine herbs (parsley, tarragon, chives, chervil). Mix the herbs together. Cut the butter into 8 small cubes, about 10 g each. Squeeze the lemon to obtain 2 tbsp of juice.
- Rinse the pompano fillets under cold water and pat them dry with paper towels. Check that no bones remain.
- Place a pompano fillet on one half of each sheet of paper, skin side down if the skin is present. Lightly season each fillet with salt and pepper.
- Divide the sliced shallots over the fillets, about 1/2 shallot per packet. Sprinkle each fillet with one-quarter of the fine herb mixture.
- Place 2 cubes of butter on each fillet, 20 g per packet. Drizzle each fillet with 30 ml of white wine and about 1/2 tsp of lemon juice.
- Close each packet: fold the second half of the paper over the fish, then fold and pinch the edges firmly to form an airtight half-moon. You can make a small hem to ensure a tight seal.
- Place the packets on a baking sheet without overlapping them. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets. The paper should puff up and become slightly golden. A 2.5 cm thick fillet takes about 13 minutes to cook.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Let the packets rest for 1 minute. To serve, place each closed packet on a warm plate. Open the paper at the table with scissors or a knife, taking care with the hot steam. The fish should be opaque and flake easily with a fork.
- Spoon the cooking juices accumulated in the packet over the fillet. Serve with plain white rice or steamed green vegetables.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 230.8 kcal
- Protein
- 5.54 g
- Carbohydrate
- 5.42 g
- Fat
- 19.07 g
- Fibre
- 1.32 g
- Calcium
- 12.81 mg
- Iron
- 0.26 mg
- Magnesium
- 7.05 mg
