Cooking with Parchment—

Cooking food in parchment is a terrific way to boost flavor without additional calories, salt, or fat. Parchment paper (the French call this technique “en papillote”) traps steam, so that food stays moist. Pile on the aromatics, like lemon and shallots in the Sole in Parchment with Warm Date and Apricot Salad, and their flavor will be infused into whatever you’re cooking.

You can make the packages ahead of time and refrigerate them until you’re ready to cook. The bundles can also be made with foil, should you ever run out of parchment, but then we call it a “hobo pack.”

Working with 1 sheet at a time, bring 2 opposite sides of the parchment to the center and fold them together several times to create a tight seam. Fold up each end to form a neat seal. That’s it. Just be sure to open them carefully to avoid getting burned by the escaping steam. 

That’s a wrap.