How to re-create this recipe:
Ingredients:
(Serves 2)
- 2 center cut portions of Monkfish tail (about 1.175 Lbs)
- 3/4th of a cup of breadcrumbs
- 1 Tbsp of herbs de provence
- 1 tsp of garlic powder
- Olive Oil as needed
- salt as needed
- 3 sprigs of Thyme
- 3 Italian parsley stems
- 8 black peppercorns
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- 30 grams of button mushrooms, thinly sliced (2 mushrooms)
- 50 grams of shallot, thinly sliced (2 shallots)
- 25 grams of carrots, peeled and thinly sliced (about 2 inch long piece of carrot)
- 150 grams of cold, unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 400 grams of red wine
- 125 grams of port wine
Putting it together:
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and line a small sheet tray with parchment paper.
- Prep your Oreganata mixture for the fish. Place 3/4th of a cup of breadcrumbs in a bowl. To that bowl add your herbs de provence, garlic powder, some salt and enough olive oil until you reach a wet sand like consistency. Set aside.
- Make sure your fish looks uniform in shape and size and remove any excess silver skin with a sharp knife. When oven reaches 350 degrees, place your fish on your sheet tray and cover the entire top of your fish with the oreganata mixture, giving each fish an even amount of coating. Bake for 25 minutes.
- While fish is baking you can make you sauce. Make an herb sachet by placing your parsley stems, thyme, peppercorns, parsley stems and bay leaf inside of a cheesecloth. Wrap the cheesecloth around your herbs and using some kitchen twine, wrap each end of the sachet and tie a slipknot in the center.
- Combine the sachet, wines, shallots, carrots and mushrooms in a medium saucepot and simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes , until the mixture has reduced by half.
- Strain the reduction through a sieve into a small saucepot (pressing the vegetables against the sieve to release as much of the reduction as possible). Discard your vegetables and sachet. If your fish is finished cooking, take it out of the oven and cover with foil to keep warm.
- To complete the sauce, simmer the reduction for another 10 minutes or so until large bubbles form and the consistency appears more syrupy and begins to coat the sides of the saucepot.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and begin adding the butter one piece at a time and whisk continuously to maintain an emulsion. It is important that the sauce does not get too hot so if you need to take it off the heat a few times that’s ok. Once the sauce is the desired level of richness, season with salt to taste.
Nourishment for your body: Monkfish is a great source of protein and incredibly low in fat. It also contains vitamins B-6 and B-12. However, it should be eaten sparingly because it contains more mercury then other types of fish.
Tips when cooking: It is important not to add too much oreganata mixture to your fish. Otherwise, the flavor will overpower the sauce. The monkfish has a firm texture and a delicate and subtle sweet flavor so it pairs really beautifully with this sauce, which comes out tasting a little sweet. I used Cabernet Sauvignon but you can use any of the following; Merlot, Tempranillo , Cotes Du Rhone, Malbec. While making the sauce, all the alcohol gets burned off so there is no need to worry about alcohol consumption if you or your children cannot have any. While making the sauce, it is very important to add the butter at the right time. If you add it too early before the reduction has a chance to become syrupy, then you run the risk of your sauce being too runny. Once you add the butter, you cannot reduce the sauce or else you can ‘break it’. This sauce can also pair really nicely with a steak.