Pompano en Papillotte
Pompano en Papillotte is an elegant traditional Creole dish, crisp parchment paper packets opened to reveal tender fish fillets and shellfish. At Commander’s Palace they are served with Champagne sauce.
Ingredients
- Papillotte Sauce
- Unsalted Butter - 3 ounces
- Garlic Clove - 1, minced
- Parsley - 1 tablespoon, chopped
- Green Onion - 1 tablespoon, chopped
- Shallot - 1, minced
- Oysters - 24, shucked
- Shrimp - 24, shelled and cleaned
- Creole seafood seasoning (below) - Creole seafood seasoning (below)
- Flour - 1 tablespoon
- Reduced Fish Stock - 4 cups
- Champagne - 1 cup
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 2 cups
- Pompano
- Pompano Fillets - 8
- Unsalted Butter - 1/4 cup
- Shrimp - 8, shelled and cleaned
- Oysters - 8, shucked
- Creole seafood seasoning to taste - 1/4 teaspoon
- Unsalted Butter - 3 tablespoons
- Baby Eggplants - 8, blanched
- Baby Zucchini - 8, blanched
- Baby Carrots - 8, green part trimmed short, blanched
- Creole Seafood Seasoning
- Oregano - 2 tablespoons
- Salt - 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon
- Granulated Garlic - 1/4 cup
- Freshly ground black pepper - 1/4 cup
- Cayenne Pepper - 1/3 cup, or to taste
- Thyme - 2 tablespoons
- Paprika - 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon
- Granulated Onion - 3 tablespoon
Instructions
To prepare the sauce: Put the butter, garlic, parsley, green onion, shallot, oysters, shrimp, and Creole seasoning in a large saute pan over medium heat. Simmer for 1 minute. Stir in the flour, then add the fish stock, Champagne, and heavy cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the sauce is reduced, creamy, and slightly thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes. Set aside; keep warm.
To prepare the fish: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly oil a baking pan. Cut four sheets of parchment paper into large heart shapes. Butter one side of each and place on a work surface, butter-side up. Put 2 pompano fillets on one side of each heart. Place 2 shrimp and 2 oysters on top of the fillets and sprinkle with Creole seasoning. Fold the paper in half, encasing the fillets. Beginning at one end, fold the parchment over itself in small folds, creasing to seal, all the way to the other end. Place the packets on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven.
To serve: Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in each of three small saute pans and separately saute the eggplant, zucchini, and carrots until hot. Place a parchment packet (“papillotte”) on each warmed serving plate. Cut the top (wide part) of the paper open and fold back to reveal the contents. Decorate the plates with sauteed vegetables. Serve with the sauce.
Creole Seafood Seasoning
Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour into a large glass jar. Makes 2 cups; keeps indefinitely (eventually, the flavors will fade, but the mixture will not “go bad”).
