The Great American Slow Cooker Book (79 page)

2
Nestle the fish fillets in the sauce. Cover and continue cooking on high for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the fish flakes when scraped with a fork.

3
Transfer the fillets to serving bowls using a wide spatula, then spoon the sauce over each.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
This fresh sauce offers an Italian flair to fish. If you’re using frozen fillets, they should be thoroughly thawed before they hit the sauce.

•
Shred the zucchini through the large holes of a box grater, then squeeze it firmly by small handfuls to get rid of excess moisture.

•
Fresh dill has a bit more heft to stand up to the sauce. If you can only find dried, use half the stated amount.

•
The fillets don’t need to be fully submerged; they can even overlap a bit, provided that you put the thin part of one over the thick part of another, rather than vice versa.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Thin white-fleshed fish fillets that will work with all these recipes include tilapia, snapper, flounder, fluke, turbot, freshwater bass, largemouth bass, catfish, rockfish, perch, and crappie.

ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
The easiest way to tell when fish fillets are done is to use a fork to pull at the meat, particularly at the thickest point. The flesh should separate into distinct shards—not easily (there should be a modicum of resistance to avoid pabulum) but certainly without effort. Always keep the cardinal rule for fish fillets in mind: they’re done in a matter of minutes, even in a slow cooker. We’ve given their cooking time a range because catfish are thicker than perch, fluke is thicker than freshwater bass, and so on. Check all of them after 15 minutes to make your decision about when they’re done to your satisfaction.

Serve It Up!
Have
baked potatoes
at the ready. Wash and dry medium-sized Russet or baking potatoes, then microwave them two at a time on high for 5 minutes. Remove them from the microwave oven (they’re hot!) and rub with olive oil. Bake on the rack in a 400°F oven for about 30 minutes, until the skins are crisp and the insides are soft. Split them open on plates or spoon the sauce on top.

1
Stir the broth, celery, carrot, scallion, rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours.

2
Whisk the water and cornstarch in a small bowl until dissolved. Stir into the sauce in the cooker until thoroughly incorporated. Nestle the fish fillets in the sauce.

3
Cover and continue cooking on high for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the fish flakes when scraped at the thickest part with a fork. Use a wide spatula to transfer the fillets to individual bowls; spoon the sauce over each.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
Mince the vegetables into tiny bits so that you can get a mound of them with each bite of fish.

•
Chicken broth and fish fillets? Yep, it’s a compromise, mostly because there’s very little good-quality fish broth on the market. That said, you can
make your own fish stock
and store it in the freezer for just such an emergency.

•
Whisk the water and cornstarch until there’s not a trace of undissolved cornstarch—which could fall out of suspension and end up burned on the bottom of the crock.

•
As you stir the cornstarch slurry into the sauce, the liquid will thicken quickly, almost instantly. Don’t be alarmed—just get the fillets into the sauce, cover, and continue cooking.

ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
Most thin white-fleshed fish fillets are sold skinless. That said, you can often find snapper fillets and some others with the skin on. That skin can add a lot of briny taste to the dish; but it can also curl as it cooks, becoming unsightly and even shredding the meat. To solve that problem, score the skin with two or three diagonal cuts across each piece, cutting through the skin without cutting into the flesh below. If you are cooking skin-on fillets, always set them skin side down in the slow cooker.

Serve It Up!
Put the cooked fish and sauce over cooked long-grain white rice in the bowls.

1
Place the red pepper in a blender or a mini food processor. Blend or process, scraping down the inside of the container occasionally, until a smooth paste forms. Add a little juice from the jar if you need help getting the blades going. Scrape the puree into the slow cooker.

2
Stir in the wine, chickpeas, olives, onion, garlic, oregano, saffron, and cinnamon stick. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, until hot and even bubbling.

3
Discard the cinnamon stick. Stir in the cilantro; slip the fish fillets into the hot sauce. Cover and continue cooking on high for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the fish flakes when the thick part is scraped with a fork.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
The red pepper puree will thicken the sauce a bit, giving it some body to balance all the aromatics.

•
We might not think so now, but red wine has been a classic braising medium for fish since the Renaissance. It offers a tart pop, more satisfying in many ways than the finish white wine gives.

Serve It Up!
Serve this meal over
Roasted Romaine Lettuce Sections
: Heat an oven to 400°F. Remove the outer leaves from a head of romaine lettuce, then slice the head into ½-inch-thick sections through the root end. Generously rub a large baking sheet with oil, lay the slices on the baking sheet, and generously coat them in the oil. Bake, turning once, until softened and a little browned, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with salt before transferring these slices to serving bowls or plates to be a bed for the fish and sauce.

1
Set a large skillet over medium heat for a few minutes, then swirl in the oil. Add the shallot and garlic; cook, stirring often, until lightly browned and frizzled at the edges, about 5 minutes. Scrape the contents of the skillet into the slow cooker.

2
Stir in the coconut milk, broth, lime juice, ginger, and curry paste. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, until simmering.

3
Stir in the basil; slip the fish fillets into the sauce, overlapping them only as necessary. Cover and continue cooking on high for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the fish flakes when a thick part is scraped with a fork.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
This spicy Thai curry is embellished with tons of aromatics: fried garlic, shallots, and basil.

•
The garlic should brown a bit in the oil, even blister. It’ll pick up bitter notes that will work against the curry and the sweet coconut milk.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Although packaged red Thai curry paste is a convenient shortcut, you can make your own. Start by stemming and seeding 4 dried New Mexican red chiles; tear the flesh into bits and cover with boiling water to steep for 20 minutes. Drain the soaked chiles, then dump them into a large heavy-duty spice grinder or large mortar. Add 1 quartered medium shallot, 2 two-inch pieces of lemongrass, 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1 tablespoon packed cilantro stems, 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, and ½ teaspoon salt. Grind or crush the ingredients into a coarse paste. Scrape into a glass jar and store, sealed, in the fridge for a week or so or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
For a perfect fish dinner, invest in a wide spatula, one that will fit in the cooker but still slip under the fillets—which can break into pieces once they’re cooked. Consider warming the serving bowls or plates, either by setting them in a 250°F oven for no more than 10 minutes or running hot water into them and then drying them completely.