We are seven days away from the reopening of the public schools in Verona, seven days from having to juggle dinner prep with all the other things that load up (and overload) school-year days. Which for us means its time for another meal suggestion from our Crock It! series.
This summer, MyVeronaNJ.com food writer Tracy Bermeo discovered that her slow cooker was just as good as poaching as it was a braising a long stew. She experimented with clams, and then set her sights on flounder.
The process, as she noted, is simple; cook a base in the slow cooker for a few hours so the flavors meld, add fish at the end. The added plus: A fish dinner without the fish smell in the house.
Ingredients:
4 flounder fillets
8-ounce bottle clam juice
juice from one lemon
1/2 yellow onion, cut lengthwise and sliced thin
1 sprig fresh rosemary
4 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste
What’s Next:
Place butter, clam juice, lemon juice, onion, rosemary, salt and pepper in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or low for as long as you need to.
Add fish to liquid, cover again and cook for 30 minutes.
Discard cooked rosemary spring before serving.
Notes From My Experience:
If you need to set this up before having 3 hours to cook the liquid, then put the slow cooker on the low setting and turn the heat up to high about 15 minutes before you want to start cooking the fish.
The long cooking time of the poaching liquid creates onions that are almost caramelized and sweet. The butter sauce adds an incredible amount of flavor to the fish without being heavy or greasy. If only I had had bread for dipping that night.
This was incredibly easy and is great for a night when kids may be eating first and adults a little later, which occurs at least once a week in my house.
