Easy-Peasy Recipe: Fish in a Bag!

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One of my favorite easy-peasy meals is Fish-in-a-Bag. I fell in love with this method from the first time I saw Jamie Oliver prepare it on his TV show, The Naked Chef.

And just as Jamie suggested, if I couldn’t be home to prepare dinner, I would prepare a fish-in-a-bag ahead of time for Scotch and he could easily pop it in the open and voilà – dinner!

I turn to this method of preparation and cooking on those days when I’m short for time or can’t be bothered with cooking as it’s so simple to make and easy clean-up as well. All the ingredients go into a foil packet (or parchment paper), it can be prepared and refrigerated a few hours prior to cooking, and then popped into the oven when needed.

In 20 minutes, you’ll have a nice piping hot dinner with hardly any clean-up! It’s also great for entertaining where I think using parchment paper presents nicer and you can serve it straight from the oven to the dining table (on a plate of course, unless you prefer to entertain directly on your dining table).

When we make fish-in-a-bag, it’s usually straight-from-the-oven-to-coffee-table-in-front-of-the-TV kind of night.

The recipes are quite versatile so feel free to modify it to suit your taste or accommodate whatever is in the fridge. It works best with any non-oily white fish. I have successfully used cod, tilapia, hammour, cream dory, and red snapper.

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(1) Ginger and Scotch Fish-in-a-Bag (serves 2)

• 2 sheets aluminum foil or parchment paper (each about 15 inches/40 cm in length)
• 2 fish fillets (8 oz /225 g)
• 1 cup leftover rice (omit if you don’t have any)
• 2 cups bok choy or napa cabbage, chopped
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon Scotch whisky, optional

Pre-heat oven to maximum temperature – mine goes to about 420ºF (215 ºC). Fold each sheet of foil or parchment in half. Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towels.

Spread half of the rice on the center of each foil/parchment and then layer with half of the greens and then the fish. Mix the oils, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and whisky together and pour half of the mixture over each fish.

Fold or roll tightly the three edges of the foil/parchment to form airtight bags. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the fish-in-a-bag from the oven and be careful when opening the bags as the steam is extremely hot. You can eat straight out of the bags or transfer the contents onto a plate.

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(2) French Fish-in-a-Bag (serves 2)

• 2 sheets aluminum foil or parchment paper (each about 15 inches/40 cm in length)
• 2 fish fillets (8 oz /225 g)
• 1 small zucchini (a.k.a. courgettes), thinly sliced
• 5 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 brown onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• juice of one lemon
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon of dried herbs de Provence (or use fresh rosemary and/or thyme)

Pre-heat oven to maximum temperature – mine goes to about 420ºF (215 ºC). Fold each sheet of foil or parchment in half. Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towels. Salt and pepper the fish to your taste buds.

Layer half of the ingredients in the middle of each foil/parchment in this order: zucchini, fish, tomatoes, and onion slices. Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, wine and herbs and sprinkle half of the mixture over each bag.

Fold or roll tightly the three edges of the foil/parchment to form airtight bags. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the fish-in-a-bag from the oven and be careful when opening the bags as the steam is extremely hot. You can eat straight out of the bags or transfer the contents onto a plate.

Enjoy!

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