fish en papillote

anyone who knows me knows i ain't speechless ...

why does the democratic party consistently have to disappoint me? don't even get me started with how pissed i was that the party leaders fucked up florida and michigan (so not counting votes in 2000 was bad, but not counting your own votes in the 2008 democrat primaries is permissible?!) - that's like ancient history now.

i have never felt this depressed since the third of november 2004, when the mimis were honeymooning in peru and heard the news. after all that excitement felt during the protest - i was like this is it, this is going to be real change. and then the bubble burst and it was back to the reality of what the fuck?

i felt similar excitement during the primaries this year (except florida and michigan, see above). granted, the end result was not what i wished for, and the amount of accusatory, misogynist shit i had to hear from people on the other side of my own party was beyond anything i could ever imagine. but it was an exciting time to be a democrat again. if 2004 wasn't our year, for goodness sake, what could go wrong now??!!

oh, why am i so naïve?

even though i was not thrilled with the idea of obama as our party's nominee (i think people are going to be sorely disappointed when all that rhetoric meets reality; and perhaps they are now realizing the messiah is just another strategic politician) i still had hope that the choice of 48 percent of the democrat party was going to be at least considered. sure, there was always second place during every primary cycle, but for goodness sake - 48 percent!! - this was different! but then 18 million voters were just pushed aside as sore losers, and i just don't know what to think about my party anymore. and somehow now all the things/votes/politics that were such evil in hillary are suddenly okay in joe?!

and even though this is fueled by my emotions, even looked at realistically (i.e., we want to win) i just don't believe that joe actually adds much to the ticket. i know that demographic analysis is often ballooned into media-hyped generalizations. but who, really, is going to switch to obama because of biden?

i am just so frustrated, angry, and disappointed. all i feel is an empty pit in my stomach. contrary to what is posted in the new york times comments section ... i am not a bitter hag or a rovian republican or a racist. all i have to say is that i'm glad i live in new york where my vote really doesn't matter. because if i lived in ohio or florida i would feel absolutely tortured going into that booth in november.

now that i have gotten that out of my system, the real purpose of my post was to show you an awesome way to get your fish on during the last weeks of summer. there's only so many times you can do tuna or swordfish on the grill. sometimes you want just a light, flaky fish (or in my case, like all the time!) and here is the perfect way ...

fish en papillote
fillets of your favorite white fish (sole, flounder, wild bass, snapper, etc)
a couple of new potatoes, sliced - or a couple of cherry tomatoes, halved - note: you could probably play around with other types of vegetables, you just need something to act as a small bed for the fish
1/2 vidalia onion, sliced
fresh sprigs of thyme, parsley, chives, and/or dill (play around with what you have)
salt + pepper
old bay
olive oil

1. toss the potatoes, tomatoes, and onion with olive oil and salt and pepper. place on a piece of parchment paper. add herbs on top. depending on your number of servings, and how you want to present the fish, you can either put it all on one parchment, or do it individually.

2. place fillets skin side down on top of mixture. drizzle a little bit of olive oil on top and then season with salt, pepper, and old bay. fold parchment into closed pouch and then wrap entire pouch in aluminum foil.

3. meanwhile have your grill to 375F. place pouches to the side of the direct flame, cook for about 30-40 minutes until done. to serve, you can either serve it right in the pouch, or plate it. but if you plate it make sure to get all that delicious juice too, it's the best part!

this version had potatoes, all in one pouch







this version was tomatoes, in individual pouches