The Great American Slow Cooker Book (82 page)

1
Toss the onions and oil in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high until softened and sweet, about 2½ hours.

2
Set the basil leaves, pine nuts, and garlic on a cutting board; rock a large, heavy knife through them repeatedly, until the mixture is reduced to a thick paste. Scrape it into a bowl and stir in the cheese, olive oil, and pepper.

3
Rub the basil pesto all over the rounded side of the salmon pieces; set the pieces on top of the onions. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes, or until opaque and warm. Serve by slipping a large spatula under the pieces to transfer them to serving plates without disturbing the pesto. Use a slotted spoon to scoop up some onions for a garnish on each serving.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
The thicker the pesto, the more it will adhere to the salmon fillets. fresh herbs have varying degrees of moisture content, based on the time of year and the lapse of time since they were picked. It’s best to start with a little less oil and add more if you find this classic no-cook sauce isn’t coming together.

•
Although we suggest mincing the basil and other items on a cutting board, you can make the batch for the medium or large slow cooker in a mini food processor or even a blender.

•
The salmon is skinless here so that it doesn’t make the soft, delicious onions underneath taste too fishy.

SHORTCUTS
Use purchased pesto instead of making your own: ¼ cup for the small slow cooker, ½ cup for the medium one, and 1 cup for the large.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
There’s a bewildering array of salmon in our supermarkets. Almost all Atlantic salmon is farmed; much of the Pacific crop is wild (although a significant part is farmed as well). Farmed salmon is cheaper and so makes up 80 percent of U.S. consumption. Farmed salmon is fattier and to some people tastier; wild salmon has more beneficial omega-3s. In general, we use two rules when buying salmon: we ask questions at the fish counter (
What’s fresh? What would work with the recipe?
) and we always ask to smell the salmon for freshness.

ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
The easiest way to skin a salmon fillet is to ask the fishmonger at your supermarket to do it for you. If you must do it at home, set the fillet skin side down on a cutting board. Choose a long, thin, sharp knife and slice the skin free from the flesh at one corner of the fillet’s small end. Hold the now-loose skin (not the fillet itself) with one hand, stretching that skin taut, then work the knife back and forth along the skin, always pressing the blade down toward the cutting board rather than up into the meat. Keep pulling the skin taut as you work your way down the fillet until the meat comes free.

1
Pour a little oil into the slow cooker and grease the bottom and sides by rubbing it around with a paper towel. Stir the tomatoes, olives, and garlic in the slow cooker to create an even layer. Cover and cook on high for 45 minutes, or until the tomatoes soften and the sauce begins to bubble a bit.

2
Oil the fish fillets on both sides, then season the flesh with salt and pepper. Set them in the cooker on top of the tomatoes and other ingredients, then sprinkle with the oregano.

3
Cover and continue cooking on high for 45 minutes, or until the fish flakes when scraped with a fork. Use a large spatula to transfer the salmon to a cutting board, slice into servings, and top with the tomato mixture remaining in the slow cooker.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
Here’s the very definition of summer: light and delicious, the best of the slow cooker when the weather turns warm.

•
If you can only find large cherry tomatoes, cut them into smaller pieces, perhaps into quarters, so the fillet will lie flat on top.

1
Stir the tomatoes, onion, chile, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt, and hot sauce in a medium bowl.

2
Dab some olive oil on a paper towel and rub it around the interior of the slow cooker, coating the bottom particularly well. Lay the salmon fillet skin side down in the cooker. Spoon and spread the salsa over the salmon, even to the edges.

3
Cover and cook on high for 1 hour in a small slow cooker, 1 hour 15 minutes in a medium cooker, or 1½ hours in a large cooker, or until the fillet flakes when pierced with a fork.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
For a chunkier salsa, do all the chopping and mincing by hand; for a smoother salsa, pulse the ingredients in a food processor until you get a very finely ground puree.

•
It’s better here to cook the salmon in one piece so that the salsa doesn’t run off too many edges in the cooker. Once removed, you can slice the fish into sections—or fork the meat off the skin—for individual servings.

SHORTCUTS
Use purchased salsa. For the best consistency, choose a thicker (rather than a runnier) variety; for the best flavor, choose a fairly straightforward salsa, perhaps with fire-roasted tomatoes and garlic in the mix. You’ll need 1¼ cups for the small slow cooker, 1¾ cups for the medium cooker, or 2½ cups for a large one.

1
Set a large skillet over medium heat for a few minutes, then swirl in the oil. Add the garlic, bread cubes, and nuts. Stir over the heat until the bread begins to brown, between 2 and 4 minutes.

2
Scrape the contents of the skillet into a food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Add the tomatoes, pepper, paprika, vinegar, and salt. Pulse until a coarse mixture the texture of wet sand comes together.

3
Dab some olive oil on a paper towel and grease the inside of the slow cooker, particularly the bottom. Lay the fillet skin side down in the cooker; spread the bread mixture on top of the fish.

4
Cover and cook on high for 1 hour in a small slow cooker, 1 hour 15 minutes in a medium cooker, or 1½ hours in a large model, or until the fish flakes when pricked with a fork. Use a large spatula to lift the salmon onto a serving platter.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
This coating is a simplified version of a classic Catalan sauce, often used to thicken fish stews. On the salmon, it’s a luxurious accompaniment to the oily fish.

•
If you don’t have a spatula large enough to get the salmon out of the cooker in one piece, cut it in half or thirds with a flatware knife before lifting the pieces out. You may not be able to cut through the skin—and may have some sharding, too—but better that than bits of salmon all over the counter.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
Sherry vinegar, called
vinagre de Jerez
, is exactly what it sounds like: vinegar made from sherry (with some brandy in the mix in lower-end bottlings). You’ll definitely get what you pay for; cheaper bottlings can taste sharp and dry; better ones, mellow and oaky. However, you don’t need a budget-buster for these recipes, just a flavorful vinegar without rank acidity.