Middle Eastern Monkfish Recipes

MIDDLE EASTERN MONKFISH

Steps:

• Finely chop garlic and gingerroot together.
• In a small bowl, stir oil into tomato paste. Stir in garlic and ginger mixture, cinnamon, and caraway seeds. Season with salt and pepper.
• Remove fine skin from monkfish, then spread on the spice mixture.
• Place fish into a shallow dish. Cover and refrigerate for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400.
• Cut a piece of foil large enough to enclose fish.
• Make a bed of chopped onions on the foil. Place monkfish and any spice paste left in the dish on top of onion.
• Fold foil loosely over fish and seal edges tightly.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes.
• Open foil and baste fish. Bake another 10-15 minutes until fish flakes.

GRILLED BUTTERFLIED MONKFISH WITH A SWEET RUNNER BEAN STEW

Steps:

• I absolutely love to cook runner beans this way. They take on fantastic flavor and go so well, when eaten hot, with roasted fish or white meat. They're also really good served cold as an antipasto. Please give them a try. To finish off this dish I'm going to use a great flavor enhancer called gremolata. The classic combination is garlic, lemon zest and at-leaf parsley, all chopped together really finely. It can be sprinkled over stews, broths, soups or pasta dishes at the last minute. It really brings a dish to life. You get the fragrance and sharpness of the lemon and the hum of the garlic.
• Feed the runner beans through a bean cutter. If you don't have one, just run your peeler down each side of the bean to get rid of the stringy bits and then cut them into 1/2-inch pieces at an angle.
• Your runner bean stew can be cooked in advance or started just before you cook the fish. Heat a large saucepan, big enough to hold all the ingredients, and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil plus the oil from the jar of anchovies. Chop 4 of the garlic cloves and fry them gently with the anchovies and dried chili until it all goes soft and the anchovies break down into a mush. Pour in the crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce and add the beans and the rosemary sprigs. Season and bring to the boil. Place a lid on the pan and simmer gently for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the beans are nicely cooked. If the sauce gets a little dry, add a splash of water and give the beans a stir.
• Lay the monkfish pieces on a chopping board and slice them horizontally almost in half, so they open out like a book. Try to get them so you have an even thickness on both sides. Score the fish lightly and set aside.
• To make the gremolata, finely chop the remaining clove of garlic with a pinch of salt. Next, finely chop the parsley and the lemon zest. Mix these with the garlic, give it all 1 last chop and put aside to sprinkle over at the end.
• Heat a very large griddle pan or frying pan (or use 2 smaller ones). Season the fish well with salt and pepper and rub lightly with olive oil. Cook the fish for 2 minutes each side or until just cooked through (don't overcook).
• Take the beans off the heat, taste and season them once again, if necessary. Remove the rosemary sprigs and add the lemon juice. Place a pile of beans on each plate and top with a piece of fish. Sprinkle over the basil leaves and gremolata. Or you could serve the whole lot on a big platter in the middle of the table - family service style!
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WOK-COOKED MONKFISH WITH SESAME SOY SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat some groundnut oil in a large wok over high heat. Add the fish to the wok, pressing lightly on the fillets as they cook. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium.
• Turn the fish over and sprinkle the garlic, ginger and chile over the fillets. Cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes, depending on the size of the fillet, until the flesh has turned opaque and flakes when poked at with a fork or a pair of chopsticks.
• Season the fish with the soy sauce and sesame oil. Add the spring onion strips and chopped cilantro and cook until the herbs have wilted slightly.
• To serve, garnish the fillets with the wilted herbs and serve immediately with the steamed vegetables or the scented rice and noodles if using.