KANSAS CITY, Mo - Cooking en papillote, a grown-up version of campfire foil meals, is guaranteed to bring a little drama to your next dinner party.

In this traditional French technique, fish or meat and vegetables are wrapped in individual parchment-paper packets and baked. The paper holds in the heat, gently steaming the food in its own juices. At the table each guest is served a neatly giftwrapped dinner hot from the oven. As the slightly browned, puffed packages are slit open, steam pours out in a whoosh, filling the air with fragrant aromas as the meal within is revealed.

“It’s a very fun way to cook,” says Phyllis Brock, a Master Food Volunteer in Johnson County, Kan. “It looks very pretty and impressive — perfect for a party.”

Actually, parchment-paper packets are a hostess’s dream. They can be assembled hours ahead of time and cook in just a few minutes. And with many recipes, the only cleanup involved is wiping off the cutting board.

As a bonus, foods cooked en papillote (ahn PAH-pee-YOHT) contain little or no additional fat, says Barb Dudley, a registered dietitian at the Groves long-term care facility in Independence, Mo. The steamed vegetables hold their color and retain vitamins and nutrients. The packets also offer built-in portion control. “It’s all right there on your plate,” says Dudley, who cooks with parchment at home.

The silicone-coated parchment paper used for cooking en papillote is usually shelved near the wax paper and plastic wraps at the supermarket. Don’t be tempted to substitute brown-paper grocery bags, which ignite more easily than parchment, and may have been treated with chemicals or printed with dyes that are not food-safe.

Although putting paper in a hot oven may sound foolhardy, don’t be afraid. David DiResta of North Andover, Mass., who wrote the book on cooking with parchment paper (“Cooking With Parchment Paper,” Bristol Publishing, 1994, out of print), says he never had to grab the fire extinguisher while testing the 120 recipes in his book at temperatures up to 450 degrees.

In his book, DiResta gives instructions for cooking everything from chestnuts to apples to leg of lamb.

One of the most common foods to cook en papillote is fish. Parchment locks in the moisture.

Chicken also turns out marvelously moist in parchment, DiResta says.

When Dudley cooks in parchment, she uses a recipe only as a starting point.

“No matter what recipe I follow, I always add more vegetables, because we don’t tend to get enough in our diet,” she says. Carrots, bell peppers and zucchini are good choices, as are fennel, celery, mushrooms and asparagus. It’s a good way to use up odds and ends from the refrigerator.

Dudley often drizzles balsamic vinegar in the packet to make the ingredients pop. (Other flavor picker-uppers include lemon juice, soy sauce, white wine and dry vermouth.)

The trickiest part about making parchment paper packets is sealing the edges, Brock says. It’s critical that the edge of each heart-shaped packet be folded tightly, otherwise the packet may pop open and the steam escape during cooking. The result? A flat packet with undercooked contents.

Brock advises practicing the folding technique a few times before company comes. She also suggests spreading a runny glue of flour and water around the outside edge of the heart to help the edges stick together.

Of course, true fumble fingers can forgo the origamilike folding and staple their packets or crimp together squares of less-elegant aluminum foil.

One challenge of en papillote recipes is knowing when the contents are fully cooked; it’s difficult to peek inside the paper. Brock advises assembling an extra packet that can be sacrificed at the end of the suggested baking time. Fine Cooking suggests poking a bamboo skewer or toothpick into the thickest part of the fish. In a fully cooked piece, the pick will slide through easily.

The hostess who cooks en papillote needs to be well organized, Brock says. Once the packets are finished, they must be rushed to the table before they have a chance to deflate. That means guests should be seated, beverages poured and the salad tossed when the oven timer goes off.

Other tips:

- Cut vegetables in small pieces, such as julienne matchsticks, so they cook quickly. Carrots should be cut into smaller pieces than less-dense vegetables.

- Watery vegetables such as yellow squash can dilute the flavorings in the packet as they cook. To avoid this, lightly sprinkle the cut vegetables with salt and let them sit in a colander at least 15 minutes to release their water.

- If you want the packet contents to be browned, saute them on the stove before adding them to the packet.

- Place the packets on a rimmed baking sheet “just in case of disaster,” Brock says.

- If the paper doesn’t brown to your satisfaction, stick it under the broiler for a second.

- Serve with rice or couscous to sop up the flavorful juices from the packet.

RED SNAPPER FILLETS EN PAPILLOTE

Yield: 6 servings

1 large potato, sliced very thinly, as for chips

6 (4- to 6-ounce) red snapper fillets, scaled and halved (see cook’s note)

2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

24 fresh basil leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

Cook’s note: Cod, haddock, ocean perch, rockfish, salmon, striped bass or tilefish can be substituted.

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lay out 4 (18-by-15-inch) sheets of parchment paper or 4 hearts. Place thin layer of potato slices, roughly the same size as the fillet, next to the fold in the center of each piece of parchment. Top with a piece of fish, a slice of tomato, salt, pepper, basil and a drizzle of oil. Fold and seal the packages.

2. Place packages on large baking dish and bake about 30 minutes. Serve closed packages, allowing each diner to open his or her own at the table.

Nutrition data per serving: Calories 178 (32 percent from fat); fat 6 g (sat 1 g); carbohydrates 6 g; protein 24 g; fiber 1 g; cholesterol 42 mg; sodium 55 mg. Source: “Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking” by Mark Bittman

TOASTED-ALMOND PEARS

Yield: 4 servings

2 tablespoons sliced almonds

4 large pears

4 graham crackers, crushed into crumbs

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/8 cup raisins

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spread almonds in single layer on baking sheet and toast 10 minutes. Set aside. Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees.

2. Peel and core pears and slice into thin wedges. In small bowl, combine almonds, graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, raisins and butter.

3. Lay out 4 (18-by-15-inch) heartshaped parchment pieces and fold in half. Unfold parchment and place 1/4 of the sliced pears on one side of each sheet, next to fold. Spoon graham cracker mixture evenly over pears. Fold and tightly seal packets. Place packets on a baking sheet and bake 20 minutes. Transfer packets to individual serving plates.

Nutrition data per serving: Calories 236 (34 percent from fat); fat 10 g (sat 4 g); carbohydrates 39 g; protein 2 g; fiber, 5 g; cholesterol 16 mg, sodium 104 mg.

Source: “Cooking With Parchment Paper” by David DiResta

CHICKEN MONARI

Yield: 4 servings

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

1/3 cup sliced black olives

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup chopped dry-pack sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in boiling water, drained and patted dry

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Procedure:

1. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Pour milk into shallow dish and dip chicken in milk. Coat each side of chicken with bread crumbs and shake off excess. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in skillet over medium heat and saute 1 minute per side. Remove chicken and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in skillet and saute mushrooms 3 minutes. Add olives, garlic, tomatoes, oregano, black pepper and tomato sauce and saute 3 additional minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lay out 4 (18-by-15-inch) heart-shaped parchment pieces. Unfold papers and spoon 1/8 of the tomato mixture on one side of each sheet next to fold. Place a chicken breast on top and sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese. Spoon another 1/8 of tomato mixture over chicken. Fold and tightly seal. Place packets on baking sheet and bake 30 minutes. Transfer packets to individual serving plates, allowing guests to open packets at the table.

Nutrition data per serving: Calories 224 (25 percent from fat); fat 6 g (sat 1 g); carbohydrates 7 g; protein 35 g; fiber 3 g; cholesterol 88 mg; sodium 387 mg.

Source: “Cooking With Parchment Paper” by David DiResta