MONKFISH MEDALLIONS WRAPPED IN BACON
Monkfish is one of the better tasting fish that we can eat, despire its really ugly and bizarre looks! Here, we flavor it with bacon that is wrapped around the fillets and serve it with a sauce made of olive tapenade and fish stock, with some new potatoes to complement the dish.
4 servings:
Fish:
1 monkfish or 2 small ones
150 g/5 oz bacon slices
salt, pepper
Potatoes:
300 g/10 oz new potatoes
50 g/1.7 oz butter
a handful of parsley, chopped
Sauce:
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
2 onions
1 garlic clove
3 parsley stalks
monkfish bones
salt, pepper
60 g/2 oz tapenade
Start by filleting the fish, and save the bones.
To make the sauce - in a bowl, take 500 mL/1 pint of water and put the roughly chopped vegetables and monkfish bones in it, heat up and cook on moderate heat until the water volume is reduced to about 150 mL/5 fl oz (about 1/3 of the starting volume). This will take a while so do the other parts of the dish while waiting (see below). When the stock has reduced, strain it through a fine sieve, mix with the olive tapenade, and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm until serving.
For potatoes - just cook them in lightly salted water on moderate heat until they are soft. Drain the water and put back on the stove briefly to evaporate the water rests. Add butter and parsley (and some salt and pepper if you wish), mix and keep warm until serving.
For the fish - season the fillets with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F. Wrap the fish fillets in bacon all around and fry them in a pan in a little olive oil, on moderate heat, so that the bacon gets golden brown and crispy. Then put in the oven for about 3 minutes, if the fish isn't cooked through. Slice the fish into medallions and serve with the potatoes and the sauce.