Big City, Little Kitchen

I spied a recipe for salmon en papillote (”in paper”) in Martha Stewart’s Food magazine, filed as “Cooking for One.” It seemed simple enough, so I decided to adapt it for a dinner for two. The results were so impressive, if Sal hadn’t watched me make it, I don’t think he would have believed the dish originated in my kitchen. Minimal steps were needed:

• Slice a zucchini, a yellow squash, and two shallots, then pile onto one side of a large swath of parchment paper
• Top pile with 4 slices of lemon
• Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dried dill, then drizzle with juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Place fillet of salmon (about 8 oz.) on top
• Fold over the parchment paper and seal up the edges with tiny folds to create a pouch, so that no air can escape
• Bake on a ridged baking sheet, or cooling rack placed on cookie sheet, at 350 degrees for 27-30 minutes, until salmon is opaque

It seems to me that you could create a yogurt sauce to accompany this by mixing about a teaspoon of dill and 1/2 a lemon’s juice into a 6-oz. container of Greek yogurt. Also interesting could be the omission of dill, substituted with oregano and capers.

Another thought: if having a dinner party, how cute would it be to do mini versions of this, each small salmon fillet in its own little package, presented on a plate like a present?