Salmon en Papillote

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F.

2. Dice the capers and olives on a cutting board until small but not quite a paste. Put them into a bowl. Finely chop the chives and dill (saving a little for garnish later) and add them to the bowl as well. Add the butter, folding and smashing the ingredients together until they are fully incorporated.

3. Using a sheet of plastic wrap or parchment paper, turn the butter out into a mound onto the sheet. Gently roll and form the compound butter into a log about 1 inch around. Put it into the freezer until it is firm and sliceable.

4. On the stove, bring a pot of water to a boil. Prepare an ice bath by filling a bowl with ice and water and setting a colander or strainer into the bowl.

5. Start by trimming the fibrous asparagus ends by snapping or cutting them off. Blanch the asparagus in the boiling water until it just barely starts to soften, about 30 seconds. Put them into the ice bath to stop cooking and then set them aside to dry.

6. Next blanch the thin potato slices in the boiling water until they turn slightly opaque, but not soft. This will take about a minute. Dunk them in the ice bath to cool as well and leave them there to prevent browning.

7. Prepare your parchment pouches. Fold your sheet of parchment in half and cut a half oval large enough to fit the veggies and salmon, leaving about 4 inches of room around where they will sit so you can fold it over comfortably.

8. Open the parchment and layer potatoes in a shingled pattern in two rows on the bottom to make a bed for the salmon. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper.

9. Next, lay a bundle of asparagus on top of the potatoes and season it with salt. Cut a slice of compound butter and lay it on top of the asparagus.

10. Take the salmon filets out of the refrigerator (leave them in there until you are ready for this step), lay one filet on top of the asparagus, and season with salt. Cut two more slices of the compound butter and put them on top of the salmon. Finally, top the salmon with two slices of Meyer lemon. Prepare the other pouch the same way.

11. To seal the pouch, fold over the edge of the parchment paper at least twice, in folds about an inch apart (it should look like an empanada or calzone when done).

12. Place the pouches on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 12 minutes.

13. Remove the pouches from the oven and gently unwrap, serving immediately with a wedge of lemon and the leftover chives and dill for garnish.