Honey Harissa Salmon en Papillotte
Every once in a while someone says something so shocking that it stays with you for a lifetime. It’s not always the words themselves but the combination of the message and the delivery. For me one of those memories was during my first year, maybe even first semester of culinary school.
For a little context the class sizes for practical cooking classes were around 10 students and we would break out into groups of 2-3 to complete all of the recipes required for the day before regrouping to taste them all and discuss methods and techniques. During our unit on steaming one of the groups made fish en papillote and our instructor took one bite, then with absolutely no emotion to his face or voice said ‘this is grossly under seasoned’ and moved on to the next dish.
The whole experience was giving ‘this is not good and it’s too late to fix it but move on’. Which is an attitude I wish I was more capable of bringing in to all aspects of my life but I’ve yet to transfer that skill. So for now, if I under season a dish I immediately think to myself ‘is this grossly or just regular under seasoned’ chuckle to myself, fix it if I can and then move on with my day.
Notes on Cooking en Papillotte
The term ‘en papilotte’ refers to enveloping your food in parchment paper so that you can cook with steam. It’s a great gentle cooking technique that is perfect for delicate foods like fish.
In order to achieve the steam that makes this cooking method so great you need to make sure your parchment pocket is tightly sealed. To improve the odds of successfully sealing you will want to start with a piece of parchment larger than you might think you need (approximately 14″) so that you have enough room to pleat around the edge.
Notes for Success
While this is a easy and low effort meal there are a few things specific to this recipe that will help produce a better end product.
The first being that your potatoes will need to be thin. Like really thin. If you can get them thinner than 1/8″ that is perfect. The thicker the potatoes the slower they will cook and the more likely you are to over cook the salmon.
Speaking of salmon, the thickness of your salmon will greatly effect the end result. I used a local salmon and the fillets were quite thin so in order to make sure the potatoes were cooked through the salmon was well done. I would much prefer a thicker portion of salmon in order to achieve a medium or even medium rare cook.
Prep?
- The harissa honey butter can be mixed and stored in the fridge up to a week in advance.
- If you want to make the whole packets in advance you can fully prep the packets earlier in the day and store in the fridge until ready to cook. You will need to increase the baking time by at least 3 minutes.
Equipment
- Chefs Knife
- Cutting Board
- Parchment Paper
- Mandoline
- Mixing Bowls
- Measuring Spoons
- Measuring Cups
- Fork, Whisk or Food Processor
Honey Harissa Salmon en Papillotte
Course: UncategorizedDifficulty: Easy4
servingsSalmon fillets steamed with a sweet and spicy compound butter. This dish pairs perfectly with a side of couscous, rice or a bright garden salad.
Ingredients
4 Salmon Fillets (Approximately 4oz each)
1 Large Sweet Potato
1 Pint Cherry Tomatoes (Preferably on the vine)
Olive Oil
Salt
- Honey Harissa Butter
1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature)
1 Tbsp Honey
2 Tbsp Harissa Paste
- Tahini Dressing
1/4 Cup Tahini
1 Tbsp Plain Yogurt
Salt
- To Serve
Fresh Dill
Sesame Seeds
Cooked couscous, rice or a side salad
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
Cut 4 pieces of parchment paper large enough to make at least 14″ wide ovals.
Fold each oval in half along the long side then open them back up and spread apart on a sheet pan or clean work surface. - Thoroughly mix the butter, harissa and honey until completely emulsified then set aside.
- Using a mandolin slice your sweet potato into 1/8″ rounds then drizzle with olive oil and season with salt before mixing and dividing evenly between the four parchment ovals on one side of the crease making sure to leave at least a 1″ border.
You will want to spread the potatoes out as thinly and evenly as possible to promote even and quick cooking. - Place a salmon fillet on top of each stack of sweet potatoes then season with salt.
Divide the honey harissa butter evenly between the fillets.
Top with the cherry tomatoes, if you leave them on the vines the packets will be easier to close and have a much lower risk of flyaway tomatoes.
Seal the packet by folding the other half of the parchment over top and pleating closed around the edge. - Transfer to the packets to a sheet pan and bake for 13-16 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through and the salmon flakes.
Meanwhile mix the ingredients for the tahini dressing and thin with water 1 Tbsp at a time until it is thin enough to drizzle. - When the salmon is done top with sesame seeds, fresh dill and a drizzle of the tahini sauce.
