Raise your hand if you hate doing dishes after dinner. Me too. I should take a step back because I don’t do the dishes, that is my husband’s job. This dinner tonight gives him a break from that chore. These seafood grill packets are one of my favorite things to make for dinner in the summertime. I have seen lots of recipes for these on the web, and I have settled on one that is a combination of different components. They are easy to assemble and get on the grill for fast cooking or can also be prepared ahead of time, put in the fridge, and popped on the grill for later that day.
Start with really fresh fish that flakes easily when done. I love cod for this recipe but you can also use halibut, sea bass, or haddock. Then pick a shellfish. You can go with shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels. I usually use shrimp as I always have a bag of them in my freezer ready to go.
The next key ingredient is potatoes. I buy about a pound and a half for the four of us. Since the potatoes take the longest to cook I give them a head start by boiling them for about 12-15 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, cut them in half.
Lay out heavy duty foil (about 12×18). I do 2 layers for each packet. The double layers ensure no leaking, (Remember-no leaking=no dishes). Give it a good hit with some non-stick cooking spray. Start layering the ingredients. Potatoes first. Then chorizo. Then lay your fish on top of your chorizo. Add the corn and shrimp around the fish. Add your butter on top and season with salt and pepper.
The 2 ingredients that are the magic in this recipe is chorizo and flavored butter. When the packets hit the grill the butter melts and the chorizo starts to render some of the fat making an amazing sauce for the fish, potatoes and corn. You don’t need much chorizo. It has a ton of flavor in a small amount. I figure about an ounce a person.
You can certainly make your own flavored butter. Take a half stick of butter, let it soften and add chopped garlic, parsley, maybe some lemon or some dill. Or you can buy a ready made flavored butter and avoid that whole step. Like this one:
Top the fish with about 2 teaspoons of the butter.
The nice part of this dish is you can customize the packets for your eaters. My daughter does not like the chorizo so I leave that out. Shrimp too for that matter. She doesn’t know what she’s missing.
Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the whole thing and fold up the packet, sealing it well. I bring 2 sides together and then roll up the other 2 sides.
Put the packets on a preheated grill to medium high. Let them cook for for about 15 minutes and do not flip the packets. Just leave them alone!
Once they are done, remove them and open them up carefully. They will release a lot of steam! Eat them right out of the foil and if your careful, you won’t have any dishes to do! Recipe below.
SEAFOOD FOIL PACKETS
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 1/2 pounds of cod
- 4 ounces of chorizo
- 4 ears corn, each cut in half
- 1 and 1/2 pound baby red potatoes, halved
- 8 teaspoons of flavored butter
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- lemons
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat a gas or charcoal grill over high heat.
- Cut 8 sheets of foil, about 12-inches long. Layer 2 pieces of foil together. Divide shrimp, fish, corn and potatoes into 4 equal portions and add to the center of each foil in a single layer. Top each packet with 2 teaspoons of butter. Season with salt and pepper.
- Fold up all 4 sides of each foil packet. Fold the sides of the foil over the ingredients, covering completely and sealing the packets closed.
- Place foil packets on the grill and cook until just cooked through, about 12-15 minutes.
- Served immediately, with a squeeze of lemon, if desired.
serves 4
If you are a weight watcher this packet comes out to 9 Freestyle points. Not bad for a dinner with butter and sausage, right?
You can also make these packets in the oven if it’s raining or don’t feel like using the grill. Just put them on a sheet pan and cook in a 425 oven for about the same time, 15 minutes.
Moscato & Macarons 