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Married life is full of unexpected twists, and most recently, was the latest addition to our household. No, we're not expecting-- don't get my mom's hopes up! Instead, the middle child from Hubby's previous marriage, (child is a bit of a misnomer, he's almost 19) has come to live with us.

I've always had a soft-spot for this kid. He's sensitive, artsy and quiet, has a great palette for food and the other day he asked to read my copy of the "Slash" autobiography (be still my beating heart!). The 16-year-old me would have followed this boy to the end of the earth. The 31-year-old me just wants to feed him and make sure he gets to school on time with lunch in hand.

Now imagine my utter joy when he tells me that he wants to learn how to cook like me. I couldn't have been more proud.

We had been hoping to have a send-off for Hubby's brother who left us for Los Angeles earlier this week, but his schedule was too swamped. Already armed with the ingredients for a great meal, I decided we should still have this midweek feast.

To make things easy, we did the fish "en papillotte." Wrapped in parchment, the fish steams on a bed of lightly cooked vegetables, and a splash of wine. This is a great beginner recipe, because in it's basic form it's pretty straightforward, and self-contained for easy clean up. The boy helped with the sautéeing part. I'm starting him off slowly.

This is a recipe that I've adapted from one of my fish cookery lessons in chef school. But it's been taken to a whole new level.  The addition of grape tomatoes and Niçoise olives give it a Provençal twist while the beurre blanc makes it truly outstanding.

Provençale snapper en papillotte

1 red bell pepper, julienned (matchstick cut)

1 fennel bulb julienned

1 red onion, julienned

20 grape tomatoes (blanched and peeled)

Niçcoise olives, pitted

4 fillets of snapper (or other white fish)

Fresh basil

A nice white wine like an unoaked chardonay

Butter

Special equipment: Parchement paper for making papillottes.

Sauté the onions in butter, until slightly softened, add the fennel and continue to cook. Add peppers and cook a little longer. Once all vegetables are slightly softened, stir in tomatoes and olives, and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool.

Take four 24" long pieces of parchment paper and fold in half. Cut them into a half-heart shape, so when opened they look like a heart (You know you did this in kindergarten for Valentine's day crafts).

Slice the snapper fillets into two equal pieces.

Spoon one quarter of the vegetable mixture onto one half of the first piece of parchment paper. Top with two pieces of fish (one fillet), a small pad of butter (about 2 tsp.) and a splash of wine. Seal off parchment by starting off on the end opposite of the heart tip. Make a small 1/2 inch fold inward. About 1/2 and inch up from the last fold make a second fold inward, and continue around the edge like this until the entire package is sealed. Repeat the process with the other three packages.

Bake at 350 F for 12 to 15 minutes (20 minutes for well-done fish). 

For Beurre Blanc

Take 1 cup of wine

a few peppercorns

a bay leaf

4 tbsp. cold butter

Pour wine into a saucepan and reduce until wine is syrupy. Strain and return to saucepan. Just before serving, reheat wine and whisk in 4 tbsp cold butter cut into small pieces. This will emulsify. Season with salt to taste.

Drizzle over fish just before serving.

Enjoy!