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.
Ingredients
- 1 4 oz piece monk fish/person
- 2 tbpn canola oil
Picatta Sauce
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 6 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup chicken stock unsalted
- 1 tbsp white miso
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 whole lemon thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 tsp unsalted butter
- 2-3 sprigs fresh chopped parsley leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tbpn drained capers
Seasoning for Monk Fish
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tspn kosher salt
Instructions
Gather all ingredients before starting recipe.
Picatta Sauce
- Melt 1/4 cup unsalted 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 6 cloves garlicand cook for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup chicken stock and 1 tbsp white miso 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 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, 1 tbsp garlic powder1 tspn kosher salt 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 2 tbpn 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.
Serving
- 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.
- 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
Author 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.