Autumn Monkfish & Harissa Squid

Had a little dinner party on Wednesday night and decided to do a spread of seafood. I've been dying to make some monkfish for a while now and picked up the last fresh tail from Whole Foods (got off the job mid-day, early morning shopping is excellent by the way).

Have also been itching to make squid recently. I prefer the tentacles to the body, so I asked for a half pound (MORE THAN ENOUGH TO FEED A PARTY) of tentacles at the fish counter. I was inspired by a recipe I saw for them on Jamie Oliver's website where he paired calamari with harissa mayo. I made a sriracha mayo, spread it on toast, and laid them over a slate board. I dipped calamari in egg yolks and rolled in flower, and fried whole in butter in a large fry pan. I sprinkled the squid all over the toast on the platter, and garnished with fresh tomatos, lemon juice, juliened chili peppers and cilantro (coriander for my European counterparts). I also made up an essence of tomato (cooked fresh tomatoes, garlic, chillies, and herbs reduced and strained so that it is only juice) and drizzled that over the whole bit. It sounds like a lot of stuff, but it all paired really well and turned out deliciously. The mayo was craaazy spicy (the heat was REAL) but all the tomato garnish totally cooled its jets.

Oh and apparently that's my new favorite phrase, cool your jets. It may come up again.




For the fish, I prepped the sauce and the sweet potato puree in advance. For sauce, I wanted a real rich bit of something, so I settled on a simple, cold hazelnut sauce.

For the puree, which ended up being more of a mash, I roasted sweet potatoes and leeks with a little bit of olive oil. Once roasted, I mixed in with about one cup of coconut creamer and a dash of heavy whipping cream.

For the sauce, I took a generous handful of hazelnuts (raw) and toasted them briefly, about 10 minutes. I then took a wash cloth and rolled the hazelnuts so that the skins popped right off. I've never wanted a food processor more than this moment, where I diced each hazelnut individually. WHY DID I NOT THROW THEM IN A PLASTIC BAG AND STOMP ON THEM?! *Facepalm*

I combined about a cup of warm water, a dash of red wine vinegar, fresh cilantro leaves, a little bit diced garlic, and a fresh, diced cayenne pepper. I whisked this all together, but needs no cooking. I used a couple recipes, and loosely based this off the "Spicy Hazelnut Sauce" epicurious entry.





Now I got a whole tail of monkfish. I like it skin on, because the crispy skin gives great texture.

I took these filets and sliced them into smaller portions. I froze about 2/3 of it. Will probably use it for a savory fish soup or a saffron stew at some point.




I plated up with the sweet potato mash as a bed, followed by the monkfish that I poached in butter, spooning the butter over the fish constantly as it cooked.




Finally, the cold hazelnut cayenne sauce over the top. The monkfish is so meaty and delicious, almost reminiscent of the texture of swordfish in some ways. The sweet and spicy sauce mixed well with the buttery fish and sweet mash.

No dessert this night. We were all sufficiently stuffed at this point!

Until next time....