If you have never tried baking fish in foil, let me tell you: you need to try it. Like, tonight.
Because it’s both the easiest thing ever (I promise), and the coolest-looking thing ever; it’s guaranteed to have whoever you serve it to all “ooh, ahh, how did you do that?!” And your answer will be: “With hours of intense labor.” Except that will be a lie, because the total amount of effort that you will have put into this fancy-looking dinner will be approximately what is required to assemble a bowl of instant oatmeal.
I usually make salmon this way, but halibut is another nice, light, summery fish that goes well with things like white wine and lemon, so I thought I’d give it a shot. And: delicious. Nice, light and summery, as expected.
Serves 2
What You Need:
2 halibut filets
2 large rectangles of tin foil (approximately 2 feet each should do it)
2 tbsp butter
1 lemon
1/4 cup white wine
4-6 garlic scapes (optional; these are in season in spring through early summer, and make a nice addition to the dish if you can find them – if you can’t, maybe throw in some chopped scallions)
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 handful chopped fresh parsley
What You Do:
1. First, preheat the oven to 400F. Now make a sort of foil box with an open top out of each piece of foil, as pictured above (except please pretend that the spice jar is a piece of fish; I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea to show a spice jar in the foil box rather than what should actually go there).
2. Place 1 tbsp butter in the bottom of each of the boxes, and rub it around to cover the area where you’ll be placing the fish.
3. Put a piece of fish into each foil box on top of the butter.
4. Drizzle a little olive oil over each piece of fish, then add the juice from half a lemon, half of the white wine, and half of the sliced garlic cloves to each box. If you managed to find garlic scapes, toss those in too.
5. Close up the box – you want a tight-ish seal so that the steam stays inside, but leave some breathing room around the fish itself.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the fish flakes easily. Serve by plating the fish, pouring over the sauce remaining in the foil box, and sprinkling over a little fresh parsley.
Serve with roasted asparagus.
