Food takes time. There is no fast food -- either you cook it, or someone else cooks it. It all takes time from start to finish. Feeding oneself requires conceptualization, planning, organization and finally, execution. Even the scraggly-haired primitive hunter-gatherer had to follow the same flow-chart: hunger>picture in your brain of a fish>make arrowhead and spear & get the women to start the fire>impale fish, take it back and throw it on the grill.
Last week, when I got a picture of a fish in my head, I went to Mutual Fish on Rainier Ave. in Seattle. I selected my fish then I had them fillet it. I took the reserved head and bones and made a fish stock with them in a slow cooker for 3-4 hours.
Then in another slow cooker (I have three!) I sauteéed onions, garlic, green olives, pickled jalapeño slices and currants in olive oil. Two hours later I added canned tomatoes and two cups of the finished fish stock and salt to taste and cooked it for two more hours.
Two hours after that, as our guests, Bob and Valerie, arrived I slipped in the salted filets and by the time we chatted, had wine and finished our appetizer,
our dinner was ready.
Huachinango is Red Snapper and our Northwest equivalent is Rockfish.
1-2 Rockfish, head and bones resesrved
2 Leeks, white part sliced
2 Celery stalks, chopped
2 Carrots, sliced
2 Bay leaves
4 Parsley fronds
2 Quarts water
Put all ingredients in slow cooker on high and cook for 3-4 hours. Strain liquid and cool.
1 lb. Rockfish filets, sliced into serving pieces
5-6 T Olive oil
1 Onion, sliced
5-6 Garlic cloves
1T Capers
1T Currants
1/4 cup Green olives w/ pimentos
1T Pickled jalapeños, minced
28 oz. Tomatoes, crushed
2 cups Fish stock
1T Salt
Cook onions, garlic, currants, capers and olives in olive oil until onion is soft, 2 hours. Add the tomatoes and jalapeños and cook an additional two hours. Add the fish stock and cook 1-2 hours. Thirty minutes before serving, gently slip the fish into the broth and cook until opaque. Check for salt.
