Truite Rose en Papillote

One of the first things I have learned living in France is that non happens much more quickly than what you want to hear.  Similarly, customer service follows the same philosophy.  Every time I ask where to find something at the grocery store, I get a few shrugged shoulders and a je ne sais pas.  But luckily, I have found a place where useful information is generously rationed, at the biweekly, neighborhood market.  And wouldn’t you much rather take advice from an artisan?  Recently, I’ve been experimenting with smaller, inexpensive, more sustainable fish like mackerel and sardines.  Truite rose, or rainbow trout, a distant cousin of salmon, caught my eye.  I quickly inquired how my fishmonger would prepare it.  He suggested en papillote, or wrapped up and baked in parchment paper.  I brought the little beauty home, stuffed her with a few lemon slices, parsley, plopped on a nob of better, sea salt and sealed her in egg-brushed parchment.  Cooking the trout precisely for 15 minutes at 250 C or 480 F, we were left with a perfectly cooked fish for two.  Although the truite rose itself is not as tasty as its oilier predecessors like sardines and mackerel, this non-recipe recipe can be suited to any fish with any combination of herbs and aromatics.  Just ask your poissonnier!

Which aromatics would you add to your truite en papillote?

Picture a Pita

Fly me to the Moon

I have been on a bit of a bread-making kick lately.  As of now, I have not whipped up anything to give the four boulangeries on my block a run for their money.  Most everything has been a bit doughy and heavy-handed like all amateur homemade bread.  However, I came across a terrific recipe for pita on one of my favorite foodie sites, Gilt Taste.  (Check it out here at http://www.gilttaste.com/stories/4806-make-perfect-pita).  ‘Pita, you say?  How granola of you to make,’ you must be thinking.  ‘You might as well start making your own Windex and growing your own flaxseeds.”  But at the end of the day, it’s something a bit less traditional to mess up, right?  To my chagrin, it’s more or less the same recipe as pizza dough.  But with the dough, there is more rolling than the Harlem Globetrotter-twirling pizza treatment.

And what’s the greatest part about homemade pita?  Although there is no instant gratification in bread-making, there will be instant gratification when it hits the table.  And I can attest for a lot of friends who have minimal NYC and/or twenty-something kitchens.  Pita can be cooked either in an oven or in a skillet.  Alongside some store-bought hummus, tabbouleh, and other Mediterranean accoutrement, it’s an instant party!