Monkfish Provincial Food

MONKFISH PROVINCIAL

Steps:

• In a resealable plastic bag, mix the salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, and flour. Place the monkfish in the bag, seal, and shake to lightly coat.
• Heat the oil and melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Place the monkfish in the skillet, and cook for about 3 minutes. Mix in the garlic, tomato, and mushrooms, and continue cooking 3 minutes. Mix in the wine and parsley. Continue to cook and stir 2 minutes, or until the monkfish flakes easily with a fork.

MONKFISH à LA PROVENçALE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchment and place eggplant on top. Season with salt to taste and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Place in oven on middle rack and roast for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 375 degrees.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy lidded skillet or casserole and add onions and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until just about tender, about 5 minutes.
• Add minced garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Add zucchini and roasted eggplant, and stir together. Season generously with salt and pepper and add 1/2 bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon rosemary and 1/2 teaspoon thyme. When vegetables are sizzling, cover pan, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the tomato. Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Meanwhile, oil a large baking dish or gratin (large enough to accommodate ratatouille and fish). Season monkfish on both sides with salt and pepper. Make a few slits in the top and insert garlic slices. Place fish in baking dish, rounded side up.
• Sprinkle shallots around fish. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over fish and sprinkle with remaining rosemary and thyme. Break up remaining bay leaf into a few pieces and scatter over fish. Pour wine into baking dish and place in oven for 25 minutes.
• Remove baking dish from oven and carefully transfer fish to the baking sheet you used for the eggplant. Pour off liquid in baking dish and discard.
• Transfer ratatouille to baking dish and place fish on top. Return to oven and bake 10 to 15 minutes, or until fish is completely opaque and can be pulled from the bone. Monkfish won't flake apart like other white-fleshed fish; the texture is similar to cooked lobster. Remove from oven. Remove pieces of bay leaf, then garnish with basil and serve.

MONKFISH WITH SPINACH

Steps:

• Prepare the sauce: Combine heavy cream with garlic and anchovies. Boil this down until it gets thick--approximately 1 hour. (If it seems too thick, thin it out with water, chicken stock or more cream.)
• Cut the fillet into scallops and salt evenly on both sides. Allow them to sit for a half hour so that they will drain. After a half hour, dry off the liquid and brush off salt. Nick all around the edges of the fillets with a sharp knife. This allows the fillets to stay flat and cook more evenly.
• Heat the clarified butter in a saute pan. Coat fillets with instant or granulated flour, and then saute in clarified butter. The fillets should develop a crunch on the outside.
• Lightly steam the spinach and place on a plate. Dry off fillets on a towel and place them on a nest of spinach.
• Combine the minced tomatoes and the sherry vinegar and place the mixture on top of the fish.
• Drizzle cream sauce on top of the tomato concasse and then drape sauce around the plate.
• Wine: A young, fruity Saint Amour Beaujolais from Georges DuBeouf