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Holiday Fish Recipe: Monkfish Recipe Served with a Green Olive and Red Wine Sauce

During the holiday season, we are treated with many decadent culinary delights.  It is the time of year when calories don’t count (because, clearly, it is important for your health to develop a “winter layer”) and heavy cream and cartons of butter are staples in your refrigerator.  After our fourth holiday party, having never missed out on the bacon-wrapped appetizers, gravy coated roasts, festively sweet cocktails, or cream-cheese filled desserts, I was ready for a meal that was a little less…indulgent.

Adrian and I love to host dinners, though, especially during the holidays, and when his parents were in town for a night, my first instinct was to go with seafood.  Not only is fish a very lean source of protein, I love it because it still feels “special” enough to serve to your mother-in law during the holidays.  I went with monkfish, because it is local to the Atlantic and it was really fresh.

Monkfish is probably the most bizarre looking fish in the world, at least on the outside.  We are talking prehistoric, extraterrestrial kind of ugliness.  I’ll be honest, if I were a fisherman, and I reeled one of these creatures in, I probably would have tried to throw it back as quickly as a home run ball hit by Alex Rodriguez in Fenway Park.  But the fillet you get from the seafood counter is quite lovely.  It is almost snow white and has a wonderful firm texture many people equate with lobster.  In fact, it has the nickname “the poor man’s lobster”; that is, of course, when people are not referring to it as the “sea-devil”.

Monkfish is a great selection for this recipe because its meaty texture holds up well to such a flavorful sauce.  If you can find it, skate wing would be delicious as well.  The rich flavor of the wine and the saltiness of the olives give this  dish an almost “puttanesca”-like flavor.  Try it out!  Your family and guests will be impressed with the diversity of your ingredients and you will have given everyone a decadent meal that is a nice break from the usual weightiness of holiday cuisine!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. of fresh Monkfish fillets
• 1/2 cup of roughly chopped green olives
• 2 tbs. of freshly chopped basil
• 2 cups of hearty red wine
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon of red chili flakes
• 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Begin by seasoning your monkfish fillets with salt and pepper dusting them generously with the flour.  Melt the butter in the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat.  Add the dusted monkfish fillet to the pan, and cook for about three to five minutes on each side, depending on the size of your fillets, or until it becomes a nice golden brown color.  Remove the monkfish from the pan and place in a very low temperature oven (200 degrees) while you prepare the sauce.

De-glaze the pan by adding the wine and stirring up the little bits stuck to bottom of the pan.  Add the tomato paste, olives, and chili flakes.  Let the sauce thicken and reduce by about half. Taste the sauce to see if you need to add salt.  Pour the sauce over the fish, garnish with the chopped basil and serve immediately.  Serves four.

It is excellent served with rice or over egg noodles.  I also served steamed artichokes with a curry aioli  along side, which was absolutely delicious (that post will come soon!).  Enjoy!