Today, I’m revealing my fish cooking secrets.

How not to stink up your house with fish. How to not turn your fish into a dry, flakey mess. How to judge cooking time appropriately. Yep, I’m laying all my secrets bare today.

I’m super excited to announce that I’ll be a guest speaker on this week’s episode of 2 Pound Test and a Bare Hook. You all should definitely tune in. I can only imagine how interesting it will be to listen to me try to talk about catching fish when I’m really only qualified to eat it.

It’s not that I don’t like fishing. I think it’s really fun. That time I caught a fish was super exciting, even though I suspect he just happened to be yawning when I cast my lure into the lake. (See, I can talk fishing!)

I even have photographic evidence.

See? I even put my thumb in its mouth. Like a boss. A very nervous looking boss. Probably because I am more comfortable putting fish in my mouth than the other way around, but still, I get points for that, right?

So now that we’ve established my extreme street (lake?) cred when it comes to fishing, I feel super amped to reveal my fish cooking secrets.

It all boils down to this – cook it in parchment paper.

Seriously, it’s that simple. That’s my biggest fish cooking secret. Bake your fish in a parchment paper packet. You won’t end up with a house smelling like fish, the parchment paper traps the moisture and gives you amazingly juicy fish, and clean up is a breeze.

But my favorite part is the endless flavor combinations you can create using the same method. You can flavor, sauce, spice, or zest your fish any way you please, and it all stays locked together inside the parchment paper packet.

My latest flavor obsession has been marinating my fish in maple syrup and ginger overnight, then popping it straight in the parchment paper – I don’t even bother to remove the skins. This cooking method is so easy, and stink free, the fish melts right off the skin when you dig into it.

So despair no more, this fish-cooking method is truly life changing. Don’t believe me? Pick up some parchment paper and give it a try. You have nothing to lose but smelly fish.

Ingredients:

• 4 trout fillets, sized for individual portions – this recipe is also fantastic with salmon
• 1/2 cup maple syrup – use what you think tastes best, the fish will take on this flavor
• 1 Tbsp ginger, finely minced
• 1 bunch asparagus
• 4 tomatoes, sliced
• 1/2 onion, finely sliced
• 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Put the fish fillets, maple syrup, and ginger in a gallon-sized ziplock bag and squeeze out any excess air. If you’re nervous about it leaking in your fridge, feel free to double bag it. Let the fish marinate, at least overnight, turning once during the marinating process.

2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grab a large baking sheet, and tear off 4 piece of parchment paper. You don’t need them to be super huge, just big enough to overlap about an inch when you fold them around the fish, and leave a few inches of space surrounding the fish. You want them to have space to breathe, not vacuum seal them.

3. Place one piece of fish in the center of each sheet of parchment paper. Fold the parchment paper over the fish (hotdog style, if you will), making sure you get around 1-inch of overlap between the edges of the parchment paper. Now simply roll the ends of the tube you’ve created in towards the fish until your packet us firmly sealed. You may see a few small gaps, or wrinkles, in your packet, but don’t worry about them unless they are really gapping – say an inch or more, then you will need to seal your packet more tightly.

4. Toss your prepped veggies in a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay them out on a baking sheet.

5. Cook your fish according to the thickness – here’s the rule, 10 minutes of cook time per inch of thickness. Measure from the thickest part of the fish to ensure it’s done. Your veggies will need about 10-15 minutes of cooking time, depending on how small you sliced them, so coordinate with your fish accordingly – they may need to go in a few minutes before your fish to be done at the same time.