Zucchini Time! Grilled Fish en Papillot (in Parchment) with Herbs and Zucchini

It's Zucchini Time.  You know, the time of year when gardens explode with zucchinis and you find them on your doorstep or passed over garden fences.


I actually don't grow zucchini in my personal garden as there seem to be enough people in my life that will share with me.  Last weekend we visited the Leslieville Farmer's Market where we met some volunteer Organic Farming Interns from the Cutting Veg.  They were a pleasure to talk with and once again I found myself being passed some summer squash.


We often eat summer squash like zucchinis as a side simply grilled with olive oil on the BBQ, but my favourite way to eat it is en papillote, with fish wrapped in parchment on the grill.  It looks and sounds fancy but really its just a neat and tidy way to make a quick dinner.  Kids seem to enjoy the separate little portions it makes.


you will need:
parchment paper (or foil works too)
a piece of fish for each person (we used salmon)
zucchini
herbs like dill
lemon
butter or olive oil or both
a little salt and pepper


Start by turning on you bbq, heat it to about 450f (230c).
Then start thinly slicing your zuchini and lemons.

Now its time to start stacking.  You want to make a separate package for each person.

 Start with a square of parchment paper, then your herbs and lemon.  

 Next comes the fish.  We like salmon but this will work with any fish really.

Then your slices of zucchini.  As much as you can possibly fit. Top it off with a shake of salt and pepper and a little butter or olive oil.

Wrapping up the paper is easy, just pretend it's a little present and keep the seems on top.  Quite a bit of liquid is made when its cooking and you don't want it to leek out.


Place your packages on the grill and cook for 20 minutes.  They do not need to be flipped or moved around.  If the paper starts to burn you can move them to the top rack otherwise just leave them alone.

Last night we served them with a little grilled asparagus and some bbqed new potatoes. Heavenly.

How do you use up your zucchinis?  There's always just so many of them.  Does anyone have a good recipe for zucchini brownies?

Road Tripping Recipe: Fish Chowder in Grand Manan New Brunswick

Here we are in Grand Manan, an island in the Bay of Fundy New Brunswick, home of my ancestors and the highest tides in the world.  It’s truly one of the most amazing places in the world and we’re so happy to be back and to show Rebecca one of our very favourite places.  Before my mother would “let” Ryan marry me he had to visit and for the past 5 years we’ve been trying to get back.

I’ve already eaten some pretty great chowder here on the island, both at the Compass Rose where it comes with a spoonful of butter and a view of seals and at Gallaway’s with Winifred (pictured above), my 1^st cousin thrice removed.  Both were delicious, but there’s just enough time to make a pot of my own before we go. Especially since we have such a well equipped kitchen here at our little rented creekside cottage in North Head.

We’ve actually had a hard time getting the fish this visit.  The main reason is that most of the fish caught here is “exported” to mainland and the residents are not really big fish buyers as they generally catch what they need (or their neighbours do) and have a deep freezer full.  Also this is a very small place without many shops, our fish typically comes from the back of this clothing store.  That said although most of the seafood here is farmed or trapped, there are rumblings of past over fishing and trawling and normally we would have found a nice piece of haddock or halibut on day two, not day 5 of our visit. All in all, grocery shopping on an isolated island has its challenges.

This is how my mother and I make chowder.  On firm instruction from the New Brunswick Aunts and Cousins.

Onions 1 per serving 

Potatoes 1 per serving 

Fish that starts with H (Halibut, Haddock) 1 piece per person, in this case 3

2 tablespoons of Butter

1 Bay Leaf

Salt & pepper

Boiling water
Corn 1 cob or ½ cup of frozen

Can of evaporated milk 

parlsey 

Dulse (totally optional but completely delicious)

Start by putting the kettle on to boil.

Add all ingredients into a thick bottomed soup pot.

Chop up your onions finely. These ones are from Nova Scotia, about as local as you can when you are on a rock in the Atlantic. Fry them up in butter until transparent.

Chop your fish up into inch cubes. Throw it in on top of your onions.  We're using 3 pieces of gorgeous  fresh Haddock from Newton's in Grand Harbour.

Slice up your potatoes and throw them in.  We think these are New Brunswick potatoes but the labelling didn't make any sense what so ever. 

Cover with the now boiling water from your kettle and add salt and pepper (and a bay leaf if you are not on vacation and don't have any).

Bring to a boil and then simmer for 25 minutes. Keep your pot simmering while you add the final ingredients.

Now add your corn, this stuff is leftover from bbqing and completely not local, in season, or sustainable.

Then add your can of evaporated milk.  Its really hard to avoid Nestle on this one and and if anyone has any info on if this no name stuff is really nestle in disguise I'd love to know.

Add a bit of chopped parlsey and a handful of chopped dulse! (more to come about dulse soon) turn off the heat and wait 5 minutes and your'e done. 

Delicious! Add a loaf bread, or even better pan rolls, from the most heavenly tiny bakery you can find and you're all set.





I love how fast you end up with chowder.  45 minutes tops.

Road Trip: Notes from Maine

We have picnicked through beautiful up state New York, napped through Massachusetts and after a quick jaunt through New Hampshire (where apparently you can ride a bicycle on the highway, text while driving without a seat belt and possible do it all on a motorcycle without a helmet) we have made it to Maine. 


We're in Portland right now but taking the scenic route to Bar Harbour tomorrow. We'll be staying there until the end of the week then hitting the Canadian East Coast leg of our trip. So far so good.




Tonight we ate at the Portland Lobster Company in the old port area of Portland. It's pretty cute. After putting out a general call for suggestions, we were pointed in this direction.  Thanks Derek!

They say they're dog friendly and it's beyond Hazel's wildest dreams.  Here she is under our table at dinner, pretty excited for the fish Rebecca keeps throwing to her.  Then she got to eat an entire order of spilled clam chowder.

Oh my slaw!

Wiley toddler eats in style.  We ate on a pier and road tripping toddler shenanigans are not always safe or conducive to mothers eating in peace. Generally i'd say this was pretty kid friendly.  The ones who hadn't been in a car for 8 hours were dancing to the live music.






Rebecca did clap for the fabulous live fiddling that accompanied our fish.





Our view from dinner.  Rebecca's first glimpse of the ocean. She really likes the boats.


So far so good and the hard travel days are over.  Soon we'll break out the bikes and get to swim in the ocean.