This month’s daring cooks challenge was hosted by Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie and the mandatory component was to prepare a dish ‘en papillote.’ French for ‘in parchment paper,’ en papillote sounds so much more sophisticated though doesn’t it? I am familiar with cooking in aluminum foil, but I have never cooked in parchment. Though the two are similar, parchment is so much more difficult to wrap up/fold over. While aluminum foil you can fold over without fears of it rebelling against you and unraveling, parchment has got a mind of its own. The shrimp recipe provided came with a step by step visual of how to cut a circle out of the parchment and then crimp the edges ending with a long tip. I was unable to figure out how this works because my parchment continued to unfold itself faster than I could fix it. I resorted to just folding the sides over eachother – essentially creating a rectangular parcel. This didn’t exactly go flawlessly either – with part of the remaining marinade accidently spilling out of my far from seamless parcel and dripping onto the floor.
I guess I need more practice.
Aside from the mildly frustrating parcel wrapping experience the overall recipe was a success. In my mind you can’t really go wrong with shrimp to begin with, and the marinade was rich in flavors. I finally got to use some of my Worscestershire sauce too, which really should be sold by the tablespoon considering how rarely I find it in recipes. I bought mine forever ago yet it’s still more than half full. Anyone else here with me? If not please do share your worcestershire sauce heavy recipes!
Naturally D complained that the shrimp needed to be peeled – apparently he doesn’t like to work for his meal. I on the other hand enjoy peeling the cooked shrimp, knowing that the added flavors to cooking shrimp with the shell is well worth the extra effort during the meal.
- 3 tablespoons gluten free Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- 2 pounds unshelled jumbo shrimp
- 2 lemons, sliced into ¼ inch slices
- 4 teaspoons butter, divided
- Combine first 11 ingredients in a large bowl; toss until combined. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
- Cut a large circle out of the parchment paper or a large rectangle. Remove shrimp mixture from bowl; reserve marinade. Place one quarter of the shrimp mixture on each parchment sheet. Drizzle remaining marinade over shrimp. Top each with 1 teaspoon butter.
- Fold over the circular parchment paper and fold over the edges multiple times to seal or if using a rectangular piece fold over the sides.
- Place packets on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.
- Carefully cut the packets open and serve immediately.
This recipe has been shared in Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Gluten Free Wednesdays
Welcome to Avocado Pesto! Long time foodie and travel enthusiast, I started this blog to share my curious culinary efforts and kitchen endeavors. Here you'll find a smorgasbord of ethnic cuisines and hopefully a few humorous tales too.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the use of shrimp here, I think it is perfect for this cooking methode and your picture made me hungry
Great job on this challenge
Sawsan (Chef in disguise) recently posted..Daring cooks cook in parchment “en papillote”
Thanks! I fully enjoyed this recipe and will definitely be making it again. Perfect for a week night meal!
I’m sorry you had such trouble with folding! It can be very frustrating. I add Worcestershire sauce to all sorts of things to give them a burst of flavour, but my favorite is to add a few drops to tomato soup.
andy recently posted..Daring Kitchen – En Pappillote
Great idea to add it to tomato soup – I never even thought of that!
Don’t you love NaOrwlans flavors?
As for worcestershire, I use it in my Thai Sauce http://wp.me/p2lkk6-4l I also use it on it’s own as a marinade or glaze for meats or as a table condiment like the Brits do. Put it in a homemade bbq sauce and anything that needs some “beefing up”.
Use a couple of tablespoons in a meat loaf or meatballs, or burgers, mix it in well. I put a couple of tablespoons in vegetable soup or you can add it at the table instead of salt for soup that is bland.
Mix some Worcestershire with EVOO to make a (sort of) vinaigrette/grilling sauce for meats or vegetables. You can trim all the animal fat and replace it with this mixture before cooking. Brush it across the corn before wrapping for the grill. Saute veggies in a little of the same mixture.
Mix it with mayo to add a kick to your cold cuts. Then if you have any left in the bottle, let me know
Wow thanks for all the tips on where to add Worcestershire sauce! Will have to start adding it to more dishes!
I tried do fish en papillote once before and also struggled with the parchment. It wasn’t that flavorful in the end, either, which was kind of a bummer. This shrimp looks like it had no problem delivering a flavor punch though – looks awesome!
I found you on the Foodie Blogroll & am now your newest follower. Would love to have you as a friend over at my blog, too! http://pioneervalleyma.blogspot.com
That’s a shame that the effort wasn’t even worth the finished product! What kind of fish did you use? Thanks for following! Heading over to check out your blog now!
Your meal looks really tasty. Beautiful photos! I have made fish with vegetables and also struggled with the parchement. I had to fold three times to learn how to do it
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Aleksandra recently posted..DORSZ I WARZYWA EN PAPILLOTE
Thanks! It definitely is a little tricky!
Great looking dish! Love New Orleans style shrimp and what a great way to cook it! The fun of eating this style of shrimp is peeling it and then licking the juices from your fingers! YUM! Great challenge! I know I’ll be cooking in parchment again and this recipe just might be it!
mjskit recently posted..Cooking en Papillote (in Parchment): July 2012 Daring Cooks’ Challenge
Yes I definitely agree that it’s fun to peel the shrimp and then lick the sauce off your fingers! I want to try making fish en papillote next!
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