Pan fried monkfish with red wine sauce
Firm, meaty fillets of monkfish pan fried and served with a beurre noisette laced with red wine.
Ingredients
- 2 small monkfish fillets, fully trimmed, cut into 1cm/½in thick escalopes
- pinch salt
- 125g/4½oz unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 50ml/2fl oz good red wine
- 50ml/2fl oz red wine vinegar
- 50g/2oz caster sugar
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
Method
Season the monkfish with a little salt.
Heat a large frying pan until medium hot, add a knob of the butter and all the oil. Cook the monkfish on each side until just golden – about a minute either side.
Remove the fish and rest on a plate covered in cling film.
Place the red wine, vinegar, sugar, 50ml/2fl oz water and shallot into a saucepan and cook until reduced to a syrup.
Heat a frying pan over a high heat and cook the remaining butter, thyme and whole garlic clove until a nut-brown colour.
Mix the red wine syrup and butter together – there should be double the quantity of butter to red wine – check the seasoning, then remove the garlic clove.
To serve, place the monkfish onto plates then spoon the red wine dressing over the top.
