Monkfish and Lemon Caper Sauce (serves 2-3)

The first time I saw a monkfish I thought it was scary looking. It has a huge mouth with sharp looking teeth. I hope I never face one while swimming in the ocean. Although this sea creature is not so pretty looking, the meat and the liver are quite tasty. Unfortunately the liver is difficult to purchase since no one seems to carry it. Today I came across some nice fillets of wild caught monkfish at my local market. I bought 4 pieces. I like this fish because the meat stays firm after cooking. My husband has been traveling quite a bit these days so when he is home I like to make him some decent home-cooked meals. Believe it or not my mother actually thinks I am not feeding him. She tells me I should make food he likes to eat and not what I like. Well, today I am making monkfish with a lemon caper sauce since he likes this particular dish. You can serve this with anything you want. I like it with rice and steamed vegetables.

lightly fried monkfish fillets

Lightly Fried Monkfish Fillets

Ingredients:

About 2 Tbsp of oil
4 pieces of fresh monkfish fillets (came to 1.30 lbs)
Enough flour to dust the fillets (I used Abbit's seafood breader mix), about 1/2 cups

Method:

Rinse the monkfish fillets, let them drain. Roll each fillet in the flour and set aside.
Lightly fry the flour coated fillets in a little oil until it is cooked and golden. Use a sharp knife to pierce into the thickest part of the fillet to test for doneness.

lemon caper sauce

Lemon Caper Sauce

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp of salted butter
Juice from 1 large lemon
Grated zest from the same lemon
2 1/2 Tbsp capers
About 1/2 tsp of caper brine
A small pinch of salt

Method:

1) Roll the lemon with your palm against a hard surface before juicing it. Finely grate the lemon skin and save this. Cut the lemon in half.
2) Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, capers, and brine. Gently crush the capers with the back of a spatula. Season with a little salt if interested. This takes about 1-2 minutes to cook.
3) Pour the sauce over the fried monkfish fillets right before consuming.

*For this recipe I prefer to crush the capers since I think they taste better this way. However, you may keep them whole if you like.