Tag: parchment paper

Entertaining? Wrap It Up!

From the most casual burrito to Julia Child’s elegant “Salmon en Papillote,” food in wraps, of one kind or another, can be a great solution for entertaining.

Here's one of our favorite wrap-ups – a Vietnamese crêpe using lettuce to create the perfect bite!

On the casual side of the world of wraps, many food cultures have their own version. Think of the Italian piadina, Greek gyros, Vietnamese lettuce wraps, Mexican tacos, Indian roti, Japanese sushi, Chinese moo shi, dumplings and the list goes on and on. Many of these began as street food and the wrapper made it easy for someone to eat as they stood or walked along.

On the elegant side, we have a world of food wrapped in paper (in the case of Julia’s “en Papillote”) or in pastry as in Beef Wellington, Camembert wrapped in pastry, savory strudels, and pies enclosed in hot water crust, pizza dough, puff pastry, phyllo, or dozens of other coatings.

Quesadillas are another wrapped food.

Create a Wrap Bar

For easy entertaining you can create a wrap bar which is nothing more than a table filled with an assortment of good things to tuck inside another good thing. You can have a theme using any of the cultures mentioned above.

For example: a taco table could have tortillas, salsas, avocados, pickled onions and cabbage, meats, chopped lettuce, crema, and lime. You can offer non-meat options like sautéd zucchini, scrambled eggs, seasoned potatoes, or for a very authentic taste nopales – otherwise known as cactus paddles.

By letting everyone select and prepare their own meal, you can accommodate friends and family with many food preferences.

Here is another favorite of ours, Salmon en papillote with carrots, ginger, chives, and lemon zest peeking out of its parchment paper wrapper.

En Papillote

In Jacques Pépin’s “New Complete Techniques,” this master of cooking skills writes, “When you see ‘papillote’ on a menu in a French restaurant, you can safely assume that it describes a dish served in an envelope of parchment paper …” He goes on to explain, “When the papillote is folded correctly (it is sealed so that none of the aroma and steam can escape) it browns nicely, inflates, and the dish inside bakes in its own juices. The papillote is served directly on the serving plate and the guest opens it himself.”

If this is the only dish you learn to cook for company, you will be a relaxed chef with happy guests. You can prepare the packages hours in advance and tuck them into the refrigerator to wait for their trip to the oven.

Change-ups for different guests are easy. If salmon is on the menu, just substitute a piece of chicken for the person who doesn’t like fish. You can make a vegetarian option or one without a specific ingredient.

Your main item in the parchment paper package is topped with a selection of vegetables, herbs, and seasoning that enhance the flavor and complete the meal. With today’s prepared vegetable options in the marketplace, you don’t even have to do all the chopping and prep work. Just select your main ingredient and shop for some spiralized vegetables to add to the meal.

If folding the packages is more than you care to do, there are even parchment paper bags to make that part easier.

Most versions take less than half an hour in a hot oven and are ready to slide onto a dinner plate and present at the table.

Crêpes are another lovely wrapped meal.

Some dinner party entrées, such as Beef Wellington, take a bit of skill and cheffy work to succeed. If you have the time and the skills, this dish can be fun to make and very impressive to serve. However, there are other options that can begin with a package of pizza dough or frozen puff pastry and your imagination. So the next time it’s your turn to entertain, think about how you will wrap it up!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino
(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)

January 24, 2018
What to do When the Recipe Calls for a Tablespoon of Tomato Paste

As a test run for my new Instant Pot, I decided to make this recipe from The Kitchn for Chicken Tikka Masala. Like many recipes that use tomato paste to add depth of flavor, it calls for 2 tablespoons out of the can.

When this happens in our kitchen, we freeze the rest and have one tablespoon dollops ready for the next recipe where it is needed. Here's how Penny does it.

She preps a quarter sheet pan by covering it in a double layer of parchment paper and readies a freezer bag to hold the final product.

She measures one tablespoon portions of the tomato paste using a small rubber spatula as her tool of choice and places them on the parchment.

We pop the sheet pan into the freezer until the tomato paste is frozen.

Finally, she snuggles the dollops closer together, wraps them with the parchment, and tucks the package into their freezer bag.

The next time we feel like a bit of Tikka, we'll pop out 2 tablespoons as we gather our mise en place.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino

November 30, 2016
What to do When the Recipe Calls for a Tablespoon of Tomato Paste

As a test run for my new Instant Pot, I decided to make this recipe from The Kitchn for Chicken Tikka Masala. Like many recipes that use tomato paste to add depth of flavor, it calls for 2 tablespoons out of the can.

When this happens in our kitchen, we freeze the rest and have one tablespoon dollops ready for the next recipe where it is needed. Here's how Penny does it.

She preps a quarter sheet pan by covering it in a double layer of parchment paper and readies a freezer bag to hold the final product.

She measures one tablespoon portions of the tomato paste using a small rubber spatula as her tool of choice and places them on the parchment.

We pop the sheet pan into the freezer until the tomato paste is frozen.

Finally, she snuggles the dollops closer together, wraps them with the parchment, and tucks the package into their freezer bag.

The next time we feel like a bit of Tikka, we'll pop out 2 tablespoons as we gather our mise en place.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino

November 30, 2016
Do You Mise En Place When You Cook?

“Oh come on, no one really does that,” said a friend when I began a cooking lesson with a plan to lay out all our ingredients. While I may not do it perfectly every time I cook a meal, I generally use the technique of “mise en place” or “putting in place" the ingredients needed for a dish.

Wine for deglazing the pan seems to be my weak spot resulting in many an urgent call of, “Ed, please open a bottle of white right away!” I do, however, have a bottle of water standing by my stove to prevent scorching while I wait for the wine. In most cases, a bit of water added to a hot pan won’t hurt the finished dish.

Even with something as simple as making chicken soup, I'll gather everything I need on a half sheet pan and put it on the range next to the soup pot. (That half sheet also keeps half of the cooktop free of drips and spatters. See more of our smooth cooktop tips here. )

Review the Menu

If you are following published recipes, take a look at those and check your supplies. If it's a meal you make without a recipe, run through the steps in your mind. Make a shopping list if necessary. Remember that you will also need pans, space in the oven at a specific temperature, stovetop burners for different components, counter space for working with both raw and cooked ingredients, and a place for equipment that needs cleaning.

Knowing exactly where you will place a hot pan when you remove it from the oven is a great feeling. If your kitchen is as small as mine, this may mean having trivets set out on your dining table. I also line trays with dish towels in the dining area to clear away pots, pans, and dishes that I’ve cleaned as I cook.

Prepare to Cook

What professional chefs refer to as “mise en place” is an orderly arrangement of ingredients – cleaned, cut as required, measured, and ready to use – as you begin to make your dish. My counter space is very limited so unless more than two burners are needed, I put a half sheet pan on the unused section of my cooktop and use that to hold my mise en place. This has the added benefit of keeping that side of the cooktop perfectly clean!

Individual items can be placed in custard cups or small containers. Years ago I bought stainless steel containers in assorted sizes at an Asian market. I use those to hold everything from chopped garlic to plucked herbs. Larger items like carrots, onions and celery (especially if they will go into the pan together) can be combined on a tray or smaller sheet pan. Cheese can be grated directly onto waxed paper or parchment and set aside.

Order of Preparation

You can avoid cross contamination if you prepare ingredients that will remain raw first, produce that will be cooked second, and meat and fish, like the lamb burger above, last. This will also allow you to keep the most perishable foods in the refrigerator longer.

If your meat or fish need to marinate or some tricky preparation is needed, you can opt to do that first, return that item to the refrigerator, thoroughly clean your work area and tools, and then go on with the remainder of your mise en place.

Give this technique a try if you’ve been cooking on the fly without mise en place. I think of it as a stress buster and often wonder how many budding cooks have been frustrated and perhaps ruined a dish because they began to cook without a plan in place.

What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino – Adapted for BostonZest from one of Penny's Fresh & Local Newspaper columns.
Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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March 2, 2016
Do You Mise En Place When You Cook?

“Oh come on, no one really does that,” said a friend when I began a cooking lesson with a plan to lay out all our ingredients. While I may not do it perfectly every time I cook a meal, I generally use the technique of “mise en place” or “putting in place" the ingredients needed for a dish.

Wine for deglazing the pan seems to be my weak spot resulting in many an urgent call of, “Ed, please open a bottle of white right away!” I do, however, have a bottle of water standing by my stove to prevent scorching while I wait for the wine. In most cases, a bit of water added to a hot pan won’t hurt the finished dish.

Even with something as simple as making chicken soup, I'll gather everything I need on a half sheet pan and put it on the range next to the soup pot. (That half sheet also keeps half of the cooktop free of drips and spatters. See more of our smooth cooktop tips here. )

Review the Menu

If you are following published recipes, take a look at those and check your supplies. If it's a meal you make without a recipe, run through the steps in your mind. Make a shopping list if necessary. Remember that you will also need pans, space in the oven at a specific temperature, stovetop burners for different components, counter space for working with both raw and cooked ingredients, and a place for equipment that needs cleaning.

Knowing exactly where you will place a hot pan when you remove it from the oven is a great feeling. If your kitchen is as small as mine, this may mean having trivets set out on your dining table. I also line trays with dish towels in the dining area to clear away pots, pans, and dishes that I’ve cleaned as I cook.

Prepare to Cook

What professional chefs refer to as “mise en place” is an orderly arrangement of ingredients – cleaned, cut as required, measured, and ready to use – as you begin to make your dish. My counter space is very limited so unless more than two burners are needed, I put a half sheet pan on the unused section of my cooktop and use that to hold my mise en place. This has the added benefit of keeping that side of the cooktop perfectly clean!

Individual items can be placed in custard cups or small containers. Years ago I bought stainless steel containers in assorted sizes at an Asian market. I use those to hold everything from chopped garlic to plucked herbs. Larger items like carrots, onions and celery (especially if they will go into the pan together) can be combined on a tray or smaller sheet pan. Cheese can be grated directly onto waxed paper or parchment and set aside.

Order of Preparation

You can avoid cross contamination if you prepare ingredients that will remain raw first, produce that will be cooked second, and meat and fish, like the lamb burger above, last. This will also allow you to keep the most perishable foods in the refrigerator longer.

If your meat or fish need to marinate or some tricky preparation is needed, you can opt to do that first, return that item to the refrigerator, thoroughly clean your work area and tools, and then go on with the remainder of your mise en place.

Give this technique a try if you’ve been cooking on the fly without mise en place. I think of it as a stress buster and often wonder how many budding cooks have been frustrated and perhaps ruined a dish because they began to cook without a plan in place.

What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino – Adapted for BostonZest from one of Penny's Fresh & Local Newspaper columns.
Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Related articles

A Few of Our Favorite Kitchen Gifts

Do You Plan to Do More Cooking at Home in 2015?

Mastering Hamersley's Roast Chicken Recipe

March 2, 2016
Smooth Top Cooktop Tips

We have an all electric kitchen. So when we replaced our range, we opted for a smooth top cooktop. These are far easier to clean and add usable surface to a small kitchen.

I’ve figured out a few tricks to have even less cleanup to do after I cook. When what I’m sautéing will spatter and make a mess, (like the Irish black & white pudding above), I put a half sheet pan over the unused burners. This keeps them clean so they are ready to use without grease around them that might burn.

You can see how much mess stayed off the area that was covered by the sheet pan.

That sheet pan, covered by a piece of parchment or waxed paper, also serves as counterspace as I cook.

One more tip is to use a larger pot than you think you need. Especially if you’re making one of those items the owners’ manuals warn about. My Bosch manual says, “Remove dry sugar, sugar syrup, tomato products and milk immediately with the razor blade scraper.” I use a big pan to try to keep those items in the pan and off the cooktop.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

July 17, 2012