Medaillons de lotte au cidre (Monkfish in cider)
I found this particular recipe, likely a mainstay of the finest French culinary traditions, the way I find most recipes, Google. If you can’t get your hands on any monkfish, you can just use a can of tuna. (That's a joke)
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- Monkfish tail, 4 pieces
- Shallots 2
- Apples the recipe calls for 2, so throw in at least 4 or 5.
- Cider 7 fl. oz (200 ml) (hard, not “hot apple”)
- Cream 3.5 fl. oz. (100 ml)
- Butter 1-½ Tbsp. (20 g)
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Peel and finely chop the shallots.
- Preheat oven to 400° F (200°C).
- Peel and core the apples, cut into small pieces. Melt the butter and cook the apples until they are soft.
- Lightly grease a baking sheet or pan, sprinkle with the chopped shallots, place the fish pieces on top and pour cider over everything. Salt and pepper as desired.
- Bake 10 to 15 minutes.
- Remove the fish. Scrape the shallots and juices into a saucepan. Here the recipe suggests reducing the mixture by half, adding the cream and then reducing it again. I don’t generally have the time and patience for such niceties. I added the cream and cooked it for about the time it took me to set the table.
- Serve the fish with the sauce and apples. Season as desired. The correct French translation instructs to “powder with ‘Fleur de sel’ and freshly ground pepper”.
Notes
*A note on the cream: no skimping. You cannot replace cream with skim milk and should you already be so tempted, I can assure you that you will never rise to the heights of French cooking. Anyway you’ve already made it this far: you’ve cooked the apples in real butter and finished off the rest of the cider, now is not the time to start reading labels.