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quick, easy and delicious fish in foil with no clean up!

Easy Fish in Foil

As most of you know, I am not a fish lover. Well, I guess there are a few caveats to that. I do adore raw tuna in sushi like Tuna Avocado Rolls and I love my mother’s home made tuna fish salad sandwiches. I have heard that a lot of people love sushi but hate raw fish and it wasn’t until recently that I realized my oldest daughter is the same way. She will scarf down pan seared Ahi Tuna and any type of sushi including smoked eel, but give her a piece of cooked fish like tilapia or salmon and she absolutely does not like it.

I have gotten my youngest daughter to like tilapia by dipping it quickly in a bit of egg and flour and pan frying it until the outside is crispy. I make this fish about once every two weeks and my big girl dutifully forces it down and that makes me so sad. I decided  was going to talk to her about what she did not like about cooked fish and see if I could make something that would please her.

What she didn’t like in cooked fish is very different from what I do not like in cooked fish. I cannot stand oily fish or fish with heavy flavors. I like solid white meat fish that cooks up almost “steaky” or white fish that cooks up with very little fishy taste. While she does not always like the “fishy” taste and associates that with “not fresh” like a lot of us do, she mostly finds the fish bland and does not like it dry and flaky. Here I have been making the fish as crispy as possible for my youngest daughter and that makes it super flaky and many times dry.

So, I did a little thinking and a little looking around and decided to try and poach the fish, but that seemed like a lot of work for some reason and then I thought of cooking it in foil! I went out into my garden to think and realized I had many lovely fresh herbs that I could use to bring out a lovely flavor and so, with a brave heart, a roll of foil and four tilapia filets, I jumped right in!

Easy Fish in Foil

Serves 4

4 6 oz white fish fillets, cleaned and checked for bones (I used frozen tilapia for this recipe, but flounder, red snapper or sole would work. You can also use steak fish like haddock, cod or salmon but you must increase the cooking time a bit).

4 Tbs. butter

2 Tbs. olive oil

4 Cloves garlic, minced

1/2 Cup mixed chopped fresh herbs. I used chives with their flowers, oregano and flat leafed parsley, making oregano the smallest contribution because it is the sharpest flavor)

Juice of one fresh lemon or 1 tbs juice

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

4 Squares of aluminum foil large enough to fit your fish fillets comfortably

Preheat oven and a baking sheet to 400 degrees F.  Wash the fish in cool water and pat dry. Cut the fish into 2 pieces if each is much longer than 4 inches. Wash and dry the herbs and chop the garlic. Mix well in a small bowl and add the juice of the lemon. Salt lightly and add freshly cracked pepper. Stir again and set aside.  Stack the aluminum foil pieces on your work surface and have all the condiments at the ready.

In the middle of a piece of aluminum foil place about 1 Tbs of fresh herbs. Splash with a little bit of olive oil and mix it together and spread it out slightly. Place the fish on top of the herb mixture and top with another dollop of herbs and top with the butter. Fold the foil over the fish lengthwise, making a long tent, and seal the top edges. Then take the two far edges and bring them together, sealing again and rolling until the foil is close to the fish and you have made a little packet. Set aside and continue on with all the fish making sure the packets are not too tight around the fish so steaming can occur, but are completely sealed so the juices do not escape.

Place the fish packets into the oven on top of the baking sheet and set the timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes check the packets to see if any steam is escaping, or you can hear any hissing. If you can, cook for another 5 minutes. If not cook for another 8 minutes. If using steak fish, please adjust time accordingly, they should probably take about 20 minutes to cook. When cooking time is done, allow to rest for about 3 minutes and then break the foil packets open and place fish on a plate, pouring the juice over. Serve with rice or pasta and your favorite green salad for a delightfully light meal!

Did my daughter like it? Better than any other fish preparation she had tried. The herbs made it flavorful and the packets kept it tender and moist. I also really liked it as a change of pace from frying the fish in a pan and we will definitely be eating it again soon. I love that you can make it taste different ways by altering the herbs you use and I am sure you could also do that by altering the fats included in the packet, like using peanut oil and toasted sesame to make it an Asian treat! We are all very happy to have a new way to eat fish that everyone in our family likes! I am also happy that the clean up is a breeze and the recipe comes together so quickly!

This recipe is a part of the Hearth and soul Hop-volume 48, Full Plate Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platters and Tip Day Thursday !

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