Grilled monkfish with rosemary and garlic mayo

Description

This can be cooked on a grill pan or a barbecue. But remember that the coals on a barbecue will take longer to heat than a standard grill pan.

Ingredients

3 bushy sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped
4 anchovy fillets
2 large cloves garlic
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large lemon, juice only
3 tbsp olive oil
800g/1½lb monkfish fillet
For the garlic mayo
4 plump and juicy cloves garlic, peeled
sea salt
2 large egg yolks
at least 300ml/11fl oz olive oil
½ a lemon, juice only

Method

Pull the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them finely, then tip them into a bowl large enough to take the fish. Rinse the anchovy fillets and smash them to a rough pulp with the flat edge of your chopping knife. Peel the garlic, crush it flat, then smash it to a purée in the same way. Stir together the herb, anchovy and garlic, adding a grinding of black pepper and a little salt. Remember the anchovies are quite salty. Halve the lemon, squeeze it into the other ingredients and slowly blend in the olive oil. You will be left with a green and fragrant slush.
Make certain that the fishmonger has removed all the pearly membrane from the fish. It is edible, but hardly pretty after cooking. If he hasn't, then peel it away with your fingers. Slice the fish into two long, thick strips, then cut each one into four roughly equal pieces (each person will get two).
Push the fish pieces down into the marinade, turning them over in the oil. It will not cover them. Cover the bowl and leave it in the fridge for a minimum of an hour, maximum of three.
Get the grill hot. Lift the pieces of monkfish from their marinade and set them on the grill. They will take a good five minutes on each side, depending on the heat of your grill, and it is worth checking that they are cooked right through. I am not keen on the fashionable 'raw in the middle' way of cooking fish, but it is up to you.
As the fish comes off the grill, season with more salt and a good squeeze of lemon at the table.
For the garlic mayo, peel the garlic cloves and put them in a mortar with a large pinch of sea salt. Crush them to a paste, then stir in the egg yolks. You will have a sticky, shiny cream. Now pour in the olive oil, very, very slowly at first, almost drop by drop, stirring as you do, until the mixture starts to thicken. If you get impatient and add the oil too quickly you will never get it to thicken. Believe me.
Once you have a small amount of thickening mayonnaise, you can turn up the speed a little, adding the oil in a long, thin trickle, stirring all the time. Stop when you have a thick mayonnaise. It need not be so thick you could cut it with a knife, but it should be well on the way.
Squeeze the lemon juice in at the end, still stirring. The colour will fade slightly, but the emulsion should be almost crocus yellow.