en papillote

 

Good afternoon, everyone.  It's a beautiful gloomy rainy day here in Kansas City.  I love the rain.  And this spring we've been having very good rains here.  The flowers and shrubs and trees are all growing vigorously.

Today, we are cooking "en papillote".  What does that mean?  It means cooking something in a pouch created, in this case, by folding parchment paper.

I have prepared several small grape tomatoes for cooking.  They have been sliced in half and brushed with olive oil and seasoned with several things that I like in combination.  Then I get a piece of parchment paper of generous proportions, fold it in half and lay the tomatoes inside at the fold.  Then I start at one end where the edges meet, and crimp and fold the edges together, moving around the tomatoes, folding the straight edges of the paper into a rough semicircle.  When I get to the other end, I fold and then twist.  Will the paper unfold?  No.  It has been crimped and folded in too many places for that to happen.

Then I put this pouch on a baking sheet and slide the sheet into the oven for 3 hours at 225 F.  What comes are out beautiful cooked tomatoes which will make you think of pasta sauce when you eat them.  

You can even keep them in the pouch and let it all cool before putting the entire pouch, still sealed, into the fridge and heat them up again in the oven when you want them.

Cooking "en papillote" is fun and easy.  Sometimes I make a curried chicken with onions and peas and tomatoes in a pouch.  Other times I might do a vegetable medley.  This is a versatile technique.  And when you open the pouch you will find the food to be succulent and moist since the pouch helps to keep things from drying out.

Try it sometime with something you like to make.  

Have a great week everyone!