Monkfish with Bacon and Red Wine Sauce

, from Issue #19. September, 2015
Photography by Aaron McLean.
    Monkfish with Bacon and Red Wine Sauce

    Choose a red wine for this dish that you would be happy to drink yourself.

    Serves: 6

    INGREDIENTS

    Sauce
    2 cups red wine
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    knob of butter
    1 small onion, peeled, thinly sliced
    2 cloves garlic, crushed
    150 grams thick cut bacon, sliced ½ cm thick batons
    1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
    1 bay leaf
    1 cup chicken stock
    2 tablespoons good balsamic vinegar
    1 tablespoon soft but not melted butter
    1 tablespoon flour

    Fish
    6 x 200 gram portions monk fish or other firm fish
    seasoned flour
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    knob of butter

    To finish
    hot, cooked curly kale, rainbow chard or spinach

    METHOD

    Preheat the oven to 200°C.

    Sauce: Put the wine in a saucepan and boil until reduced by half. Heat the oil and butter in a sauté pan and cook the onion, garlic, bacon, rosemary and bay leaf until the onions are soft. Season and add the reduced red wine, chicken stock and balsamic vinegar and simmer until reduced by half. Mash the butter and flour together to make a smooth paste*. Whisk in a small piece at a time until the sauce thickens and is glossy. Simmer for 2 minutes to cook out the flour. Season.

    Fish: Heat the oil and butter in a sauté pan. Dust the fish in flour, shaking off the excess. Cook on all sides until golden and just cooked in the centre.

    To serve: Arrange the greens on serving plates and top with the sliced monkfish. Spoon over the sauce. 

    *The French term for this is beurre manié, or kneaded butter, which is used to thicken soups and sauces.

    Menu: Serve with Twice Baked Raspberry and Lime Soufflés to finish.

    Subscribe or Log in to dish to save recipes

    Subscribe
    SAVE
    TAGS

    Related Content

    latest issue - on sale now

    HOLIDAY
    Check out our
    latest issue:

    HOLIDAY

    dish HOLIDAY is your go-to magazine for summer entertainment. Chock-full of recipes to share in the warmer weather dish HOLIDAY is a one-off special edition, designed for the beach, bach, boat or back yard. Different than a regular issue of dish, it is dedicated to making the most of warm-weather leisure time, including barbecue and salad recipes, Spotify playlists, a beach read, crosswords and puzzles, fish and chip and ice cream guides and much more. 

    This issue is not part of the 12-month subscription and is available only at retail in Aotearoa New Zealand.