Whole Foods Market recently started selling paiche which is a sustainable species of fish responsibly farmed in South America. It has a light flaky texture and buttery notes making it a great alternative to sea bass and similar fish. While you can find paiche at a limited number of restaurants, Whole Foods Market is the only national retailer of paiche.
Whole Foods Market offered me an exciting challenge to try paiche in place of run of the mill white fish options and share the recipes on my blog. They offered me a gift card for the ingredients and offered an additional $50 Whole Foods gift card to one of my lucky readers! Please check out the two recipes below and then enter to win the gift card! To enter simply leave a comment on this post by midnight of January 14th. We will randomly pick a winner the morning of Wednesday January 15th just in time for the opening of the new Whole Foods location at the Domain.
Cooking with paiche I found it to be a versatile fish and easy to prepare. The first recipe I chose to make a version of papillote. Baking with this method seals in the natural juices and flavors of the ingredients making for an aromatic and flavorful dish.
Paiche en Papillote ingredients:
1/2 cup of white wine or chicken stock
1 medium onion, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 lemon, cut thinly into slices
5 ounces of fresh spinach
4 scallions, chopped
8 sprigs of thyme
4 – (4-6 ounce) fillets of paiche
Parchment paper
Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons of olive oil
 |
| Paiche en Papillote ingredients |
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Cut 4 pieces of parchment paper into 14 inch squares and fold diagonally.
Lightly coat the inside of the pieces of parchment paper with olive oil or cooking spray.
Place the spinach followed by the onions at the center of each piece of parchment paper.
Add two tablespoons of either white cooking wine or chicken stock on top of each bed of spinach.
Lightly season the fish with a little salt and pepper.
Place fillets on top of the beds of spinach and onions.
Sprinkle the carrots, tomatoes and scallions on top of the fillets.
Garnish with two lemon slices and two sprigs of thyme.
Fold over the edges of each side of the parchment paper to seal in the ingredients.
Lightly coat the bottom of the parchment paper with oil or cooking spray before placing it on a pan in the oven.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Carefully remove ingredients onto a plate and enjoy!
 |
| Paiche en Papillote |
 |
| Paiche en Papillote |
After drooling over the Whole Foods\’ recipe for pan-seared paiche with spicy avocado sauce with greens I knew that it had to be the second dish. It is a quick and easy recipe and pan searing the fish enhanced the natural flavors while the spicy avocado sauce added a pleasant intensity. The dish came out perfect. I opted for the swiss chard for the greens. I would recommend if you or someone you are cooking for is sensitive to spicy foods to only use 1/2 or 1/3 of a jalapeno.
 |
| Spicy Avocado Sauce |
 |
| Whole Foods recipe: pan-seared paiche with spicy avocado sauce with greens |
I paired both dishes with two of Whole Foods Holiday 2013 top wines. Both the Skouras Annas and Roger d\’ Anoia Cava paired beautifully and are reasonably priced.
Thanks Whole Foods for this fun cooking challenge!
Note the Whole Foods Domain location opens January 15th but they are having a Preview Party on January 13th. You can find ticket information here:
https://live.ticketbud.com/wfmdomain.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Sushi ATX 
Yum! I'll have to try this out at home
LikeLike
just in time for my dinner break. 🙂
LikeLike
We made the pan seared Paiche w/spicy avocado and greens this evening. What a meal! Unique fish the way it creates it's own crust.
LikeLike
You make this look sooo good! There is a Whole Foods near me and I've learned so much about their products!
LikeLike
Looks delicious! I'm excited for the new Whole Foods store!
LikeLike
Congratulations Jim! I put the names in a hat and drew your name for the Whole Foods gift card. I emailed the gift card to your Google+ email account. Thank you for participating.
LikeLike
Thank you to everyone who participated! I threw the names in a hat this morning and drew Jim's name. Congrats Jim!
LikeLike
This site is really cool! I found here alot of information that I was looking for. I am really happy to be a part of This site! read more
LikeLike
Nice article and I want to appreciate you for sharing! read more
LikeLike