Salmon en Papillote

Salmon with Lime en Papillote (aka: Salmon in Paper Bag) is something I've made since the early 80's, from a recipe in Cuisine Magazine.  I made this last night for Valentines Day as a reprise of the first fancy meal I cooked for Irene when we met, about 25 years ago. For these photos, we used Red Snapper because it was fresh at the fish market, and it worked beautifully; we garnished it with salmon roe which is attractive and has a great popping texture.

The combination of rich butter/cream and lime on perfectly cooked moist fish is an indulgence. This is a needlessly fussy recipe but can be made fairly quickly. I need to rewrite it to simplify, but this'll do for now. 

Red Snapper with lime/cream/butter sauce, served with mashed potatoes

Serves 4.

1 1/4 # salmon fillet (about 1 inch thick), skinned, in one piece
5 T unsalted butter
2 t unsalted butter
1 small lime
1 small piece ginger, pared
1/4 c shallot, minced
1/2 c port, preferably white
1/2 c heavy cream
1/2 t lime juice, fresh (reserved from lime above)
  cooking parchment paper (paper bags work just fine)
  salt
  black pepper, freshly ground
  cayenne pepper

FISH

Cut parchment so that fish will lay on it, then parchment will be
sufficient to fold over and enclose fish with about 1-2 inches extra
all around to make a seal.
Brush with melted butter.

Remove zest from lime in long, thin strips, leaving pith behind.
Cut into julienne strips.
Blanch in small heavy saucepan of boiling water for 3 minutes.
Drain; refresh under cold running water, and drain again.
Reserve, covered, in a small bowl.
Remove pith from lime; carefully cut 4 lime sections away from membranes.
Reserve sections in second small bowl.
Reserve remaining lime for later use.

About 20 minutes before serving, heat oven to 550F (or highest setting).

Trim salmon; remove tiny bones, if necessary, with tweazers.
Cut salmon on shallow angle into four equal scallops, each about 4 ounces.
Place each piece salmon on parchment to the side of the centerline.
Salt and pepper fish; sprinkle lightly with cayenne.
Grate finely about 1/8t ginger over each.
Reserve pinch ginger for sauce.
Place 1 reserved lime section on top of each piece of salmon.
Strew 4-6 strands lime zest on top.

Fish topped with lime zest, lime supremes, spices on buttered parchment

Seal parchment packets.
Fold over and even up edges.
Roll and fold edges/flaps, then staple to make an airtight seal.

Fish sealed in parchment packets; the staples aren't classy, but they're easy

Place packets on rimmed baking sheet.
Bake until parchment is puffed (about 5 minutes for fillets, 10 minutes for
thicker steaks); salmon should just be cooked.

Baked at 500F for 7 minutes, paper is puffed and scorched, but fish is fine

SAUCE

Melt 2 T butter in small heavy saucepanb over medium-high heat.
When foam subsides, add shallot; saute, stirring frequently, until softened but
not browned, about 3 minutes.
Add port; increase heat to high.
Heat to boiling.
Cook, uncovered, until liquid is reduced by half, about 2-3 minutes.
Squeeze reserved lime to obtain 1/2t juice; add, along with cream, to reduced
liquid.
Heat to boiling, then reduce heat to very low.
Add the pinch of grated ginger.
Whisk in remaining 3T butter, half at a time, waiting until first piece is
almost incorporated before adding second.
Remove from heat; season with salt, black pepper, cayenne.
You should have about 2/3c sauce.

ASSEMBLY

Open parchment packets.
Transfer fish to plates.
Spoon sauce on and around each serving.

Parchment packets opened up, perfectly cooked fish

NOTES:

1. You may want to get a start on the sauce before putting the salmon in the
   oven, since the salmon doesn't take much time to bake.

2. I usually use salmon steaks, but bake longer to accommodate the thickness.

3. This recipe seems to be needlessly fussy, as if made for bored housewives.
   You can have great success without being so anal (see Note 4).
   Separating the lime segments from the membrane is an almost impossible task
   so don't worry about it too much.

4. In college, I once did a "student-version" of this to see how much I could get away
   with. I substituted salmon from a can, paper sandwich bags sprayed with Pam,
   instant minced onion, and probably `Real Lemon' juice and milk. It came out
   very nicely, in about 10 minutes total.