You have to be a little brave for this Monkfish Piccata dish, but if you love lobster but not the price, you have to try monkfish, known as the ‘poor-man’s’ lobster. It is delicious and easy to make and terrific for a dinner party or just for the two of you for a special dinner.
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Ingredients
- 4 oz pieces monk fish/person
- 2 tbpn canola oil
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tbpn drained capers
- 2-3 sprigs fresh chopped parsley leaves
Picatta Sauce
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 6 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup chicken stock unsalted
- 1 tbspn white miso
- 1 tbspn lemon juice
- 1 whole lemon thinly sliced
Seasoning for Monk Fish
- 1 tbspn all-purpose flour
- 1 tbspn garlic powder
- 1 tspn kosher salt
Servings: people
Units:
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients before starting recipe.
Picatta Sauce
- Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat and continue swirling and stirring until the butter turns a rich golden brown. The butter will foam through out, about 5 minutes.
- Peel and slice 6 gloves of garlic into very thin slices.
- Stir in garlic, and cook for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and add chicken stock and misso, off the heat. Continue to stir and return to the heat. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook until reduced to about a 1/2 cup.
- Transfer to a blender, or use an immersion blender and mix until the sauce is smooth and silky, 1-2 minutes.
Monk Fish
- Cut monk fish into two pieces.
- Mix garlic salt, kosher salt and flour together in a small bowl and then spread on a sheet of parchment paper.
- Dredge fish in mixture, making sure that all sides are covered.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a medium skillet over high heat, when hot (1-2 minutes) add slices of lemon and cook until the lemon slices become a golden brown.
- Remove lemon slices and add remaining canola oil.
- Heat oil until the oil is shimmering and almost smoking, add monkfish pieces and cook monkfish over high heat for 4-5 minutes on each side.
- After you have cooked all sides but one, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of butter, I clove of garlic, unpeeled and smashed with the side of a knife blade, 2 sprigs of thyme. Spoon the hot butter over the monkfish for the last 3-4 minutes. Then add lemon slices and lemon juice.
Serving
- Spoon Piccata Sauce on the bottom of a plate, top with monkfish and spoon over pan juices, lemon slices and capers.
Optional
- Serve with toasted baguette slices
Recipe Notes
I could not find the origin of monkfish other than it's a cold deep water north Atlantic species. There are various preparations but I liked this pan seared version. It tastes wonderful. Don't look for the fish because they are very scary looking, which has nothing to do with it's wonderful rich lobster-like flavor.