When you really devote yourself to eating sustainable seafood, you end up in some tight corners. Case in point: I was feeling pretty okay as I tossed the Canadian Rockfish fillet in my basket, but when I got home and looked up the fish on my favorite source, I realized it was, again, not that simple. Do I know if my Rockfish is trawl caught or line caught? I have no idea. None. Nada. Dammit. I didn’t realize this was an issue, even, I thought that the fish on hand was okay. And me, a mostly educated consumer. It’s tricky, this watching your seafood source. I will be sure to ask next time I pick Rockfish for dinner.
I’d selected this particular fish because I wanted to do a simple pan roasting project. I’m a big fan of the simple, one dish meal. They’re satisfying, easy to make, and easy to clean up. I like the flavor and texture of yummy things roasted in plenty of good olive oil. And because the weather here in Seattle has been as gloomy as a broken hearted teenager, it’s nice to have an excuse to turn the oven on.
One Pan Rockfish Stew:
- 1/2 Large Yellow Onion, Diced
- 5-6 Medium Roma Tomatoes, Diced – if they come from your garden, lucky you, though I suppose you could also use a can of diced toms
- A Generous Slosh of Olive Oil
- 1 Big Green Pepper, Diced
- 2-3 Cups of Baby Spinach Leaves
- 1/2 Pound of LINE CAUGHT Rockfish
- 1/2 Cup of Dry Cured Black Olives
- Ground Pepper, Salt, Herbs at Will
Heat the oven to 400. Roast the toms and the onion in the olive oil. When things are getting saucy and brown (I’m going to walk away from the innuendo possibilities), toss in the green pepper and roast until it’s brown on the edges, too. You should have nice thick sauce. Take the pan out of the oven and mix in the spinach leaves. They only need a few minutes to get soft. Then, put the fish in, coat it in what should now be a quite aromatic smelling sauce, and toss the olives in. Cook it until the fish is done, being careful not to walk away to talk on the phone or update your blog about cooking seafood. When the fish is done, you can either serve it up nicely as filets under sauce or break the fish up in to pieces and eat it out of a bowl, stew style. Either way, this was yummy and warming. I only wish I’d picked up a nice sourdough bread to mop up the sauce, but hey, I don’t really need the carbs.
Photo note: Now that it gets dark so damn early, I have to shoot my dinner under the daylight fluorescent lights in my kitchen. This isn’t great light. It’s okay, but I have to spend an inordinate amount of time tweaking the photos for color. That’s why, during the dark season, you’ll see fewer Fish Wednesday shots. I’ll try to amend for that by following good recipe formatting.
Related:
- Here‘s a good read on consumers who care about their fish. I like it, it makes me feel less freaky.
- This article debunks the anti-trawl fishing stance. I ain’t buying it, but it’s worth a read. Got an agenda, California Seafood Council?
- “The human world, it’s a mess. Life under the sea is better than anything dey got up dere.” On You Tube.
[tags]Fish Wednesday, seafood, cooking[/tags]