Pan Roasted Monkfish with Siena Farms Summer Veggies. Want Some?
Monkfish, or “poor man’s lobster”, came in our Cape Ann Fresh Catch CSF this week! Monkfish are opportunistic feeders and have a sweet tooth for shrimp, shellfish and sand eels. The flavor is rich, sweet and succulent reminiscent of lobster, without the hassle of a shell. The texture of the meat is more firm than flaky. *Personally, I am amazed that such a prehistoric looking fish contains such a sweet and buttery flavor. Have you seen a monkfish face before?! Yikes!* Speaking of which, Cape Ann was kind enough to spare us the heads, as they are HUGE. The share included 3 gorgeous tails, ready for a quick filet before they hit the pan.
We pan roasted the monkfish and served it over a bed of summer vegetables from Siena Farms. Ahhhhh-MAAAA- ZING! The fish is beautifully complimented by the caramelization of the veggies. And the dish comes to life with the addition of a little acidity right before serving. The roasted veggie medley also has a great variety in texture, from the crunchiness of the edamame and “al dente” carrots to the softness of the eggplant and juicy bombs of exotic plum tomatoes. This is also a dish to consider serving company as you can get a good handle on the vegetables in advance and then pan roast the fillets when it’s go-time.
Monkfish from Cape Ann Fresh Cath
INGREDIENTS:
(serves 4)
4x 6oz filets of Monkfish
Salt & Pepper
Canola Oil, just enough to lightly coat non stick pan
1 Baby Eggplant (skinned and cubed into ½ inch squares)
1/2 julienned then minced carrot (should be tiny squares)
4 oz fresh Edamame, shelled
1 ½ pints Exotic Plum Tomatoes (Yellow, Orange, Purple), cut all in half
1 Tablespoon minced fresh Oregano
1 Tablespoon minced fresh Thyme
2 Cloves finely minced Garlic
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
2 Tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Capers with juice
Good splash of White Wine (Savignon Blanc works well)
Juice from 1/2 Lemon
1 Cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
Salt & Pepper
4 MonkFish Filets (8 inches long)
Salt & Pepper
Canola Oil, just enough to lightly coat non stick pan
PREPARATION:
Preheat Oven to 425 Degrees
Heat a large pan on stovetop to Medium heat.
On stovetop, put Olive oil in a non-stick pan with Garlic, begin to heat. Add Eggplant and Plum Tomatoes (best if Tomatoes face down on the cut side), then Oregano and Thyme. gently stir.
After 4 minutes on the stovetop, add White Wine and White Wine Vinegar, Capers with a bit of the caper juice.
Remove from stovetop and place in oven for 10 min. After 10 min remove from oven and add lemon juice, stir again gently, salt and pepper to taste.
Edamame and Carrot Prep:
Bring chicken broth to a quick boil and add Edamame and Carrots, let cook no more than 2 min. Edamame will cook quickly as will the minced carrot. Strain out chicken broth through a fine meshed colander and immediately run cold water over the Edamame and Carrots (you do this to keep a crunchy texture). Mix in Edamame and Carrot with the Plum Tomato, Eggplant mix from above.]
Carefully lay out a long rectangular bed of the mixture on your plate, this will be what you place the Monkfish filets on.
Monkfish:
Heat a non-stick, oven proof, sauté pan with 2 Tablespoons Canola oil on high heat. Take your cleaned Monkfish filets and dry them with paper towels. Salt and pepper all sides of the fish. When heating the oil and you see the first sign of smoke add the fish filets to the pan moving around constantly so the filets don’t stick, move around on one side for a minute or so (take extreme caution here as the oil is hot and may spatter). After the first minute, let the fish cook an additional minute then flip the filets to another side using a fish spatula, cook for another 2 minutes, do the same for the third side (MonkFish filets are a bit triangular in shape).
Take the entire ovenproof pan and place in oven. Roast the Monkfish for an additional 5 minutes. BE CAREFUL HERE! Remove the sauté pan from the oven which will be scalding hot! Wrap the handle well with a heatproof towel or oven mitt, and keep it wrapped. Remove fish and place over tomato eggplant mixture, put hot pan in a spot to cool.
Garnish the fish with MicroGreens that have been mixed with a little Olive Oil, Lemon, Salt & Pepper. Serve immediately.
Grab your fork…
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