MONKFISH WITH CREAMY CURRIED MUSSELS
kindly supplied by Dario

170g of a[portioned Monkfish Tail
60g of Mussels
60gms of Clams

40 gms of diced bacon
40 gms of diced parma ham
50mls of dry white winw
20g of finely diced carrot
20g of finely diced leek
20g of finely diced celery

1 dash of olive oil
1 pinch of curry powder ( Madras )
1 pinch of saffron
Dash of white dry wine
1 Small bulb of garlic diced
1 Small handful of roughly chopped flat parsley
70mls of fish stock
70mls of cream
1 Pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Optional – 50gsm of thin spaghetti

METHOD

1- Make sure that the grey membrane of the monkfish is removed or the membrane when cooked will shrink

2- Clean mussels remove beards discard any open mussels. Heat a pan until very hot, add the parsley and garlic, and then tip mussels in with the wine. Clamp on the lid and cook for 3-4 minutes, shake the pan once or twice. Uncover and discard any that are still closed. Strain off the juice and reserve. Remove the mussel meat from the shells.

3- Saute the celery, leek, carrot, bacon and parma ham with the clams in a little oil. Cook until softened, add the curry powder and the saffron and cook for a few seconds then pour in the dry white wine, cook until reduced by half. Place the stock and mussel juices and cook until reduced by another half. Stir in the cream and simmer for several minutes until slightly thickened. Season nicely and mix the mussels. Reheat when fish is cooked.

4- Season the Monkfish fillet with a touch of crushed black pepper and curry powder. Heat the remaining oil in a pan, when nice and hot sear the fish in the hot oil turning to brown evenly. Cook another 3-4 minutes in the oven or in the pan.

5- This dish would also be perfect with a little spaghetti cooked al dente . Tossed in with the sauce and the monkfish served on top as a garnish.