I was talking about my lack of blogging this morning with one of my very few followers, yes that's you Will.
He was remonstrating (well maybe observing rather than remonstrating) that I hadn't been blogging much. Sometimes that's because I am in a bit of a revisiting rather than discovery phase. This recipe from Allegra Macavedy, that I have already written about once, is an absolute breeze to make and is really different and delicious.
The salad here is a little spin on the last entry as it has the addition of radish and lemon juice ... definitely an improvement..... and maybe, just maybe, that justifies a second entry.
Lisa and I had this with Joe who returned to Uni today and is therefore unlikely to have Monkfish couscous for some time!
Ingredients (Serves four)
180g cous-cous
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 preserved lemon, golf-ball sized, roughly chopped
10g fresh coriander, washed and roughly chopped
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
700g monkfish fillet, cut into equal portions
12 uncooked prawns
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Big pinch saffron threads
1 bulb fennel, cut in half, core removed, thin sliced
Salt and pepper
Ingredients for salad
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced
15 radishes, sliced thinly
200g/7oz Greek yoghurt (Actually I just used plain low fat yoghurt)
1 lemon, juice only
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
(its also meant to include sumac but I've never been able to find it)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. For the monkfish parcels, mix all the monkfish parcel ingredients, except the monkfish, olive oil, saffron and fennel, into a bowl.
3. Place the monkfish fillet onto a chopping board and cut into 1cm/½in thick, angled slices (the idea is to have around 2-3 nice monk medallions per serving.
4. Place a small pan with 180ml/6fl oz water onto the stove to boil. Once boiling, add the saffron and immediately remove from the heat.
5. Cut out six large sheets of kitchen foil and lay them out onto a flat work surface. Fold each sheet in half to create a crease, then open out again.
6. Pour two tablespoons of the olive oil into the couscous mixture and stir well so that all the grains are well coated in oil.
7. Add the saffron water and stir again to combine.
8. Spread a little of the olive oil into the centre of the front half of each of the open foil sheets. Divide the fennel equally among the six sheets, arranging onto the oil.
9. Divide the couscous mixture out equally, placing on top of each of the piles of fennel.
10. Top each portion of couscous mixture with 2-3 slices of monkfish.
11. Drizzle equal amounts of the rest of the extra virgin over each portion of monkfish and season each with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
12. Bring the top edge of foil of each parcel over the monkfish and couscous pile to meet the bottom edge. Seal the edge by folding it over tightly three times and secure by pressing down firmly with your fingers. Turn each parcel 180 degrees and do the same to the opposite open side.
13. Each parcel should be well-sealed on three sides, with just the top open. Carefully place each parcel at a 45 degree angle, so as not to disturb the arrangements inside.
14. Carefully add three tablespoons of water into each bag, then seal the top edge of each parcel by the same folding process as before.
15. Place the parcels onto two baking trays and transfer to the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes. If the parcels are in the oven at different heights, swap over the shelves halfway through.
16. The parcels should have puffed up like pillows. Take the parcels out of the oven and place straight onto warmed plates.
17. For the salad, combine all the salad ingredients together in a large clean bowl and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
18. To serve, present the parcels on their plates and cut them open at the table. Serve the salad in its bowl and allow people to help themselves.
He was remonstrating (well maybe observing rather than remonstrating) that I hadn't been blogging much. Sometimes that's because I am in a bit of a revisiting rather than discovery phase. This recipe from Allegra Macavedy, that I have already written about once, is an absolute breeze to make and is really different and delicious.
The salad here is a little spin on the last entry as it has the addition of radish and lemon juice ... definitely an improvement..... and maybe, just maybe, that justifies a second entry.
Lisa and I had this with Joe who returned to Uni today and is therefore unlikely to have Monkfish couscous for some time!
Ingredients (Serves four)
180g cous-cous
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 preserved lemon, golf-ball sized, roughly chopped
10g fresh coriander, washed and roughly chopped
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
700g monkfish fillet, cut into equal portions
12 uncooked prawns
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Big pinch saffron threads
1 bulb fennel, cut in half, core removed, thin sliced
Salt and pepper
Ingredients for salad
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced
15 radishes, sliced thinly
200g/7oz Greek yoghurt (Actually I just used plain low fat yoghurt)
1 lemon, juice only
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
(its also meant to include sumac but I've never been able to find it)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. For the monkfish parcels, mix all the monkfish parcel ingredients, except the monkfish, olive oil, saffron and fennel, into a bowl.
3. Place the monkfish fillet onto a chopping board and cut into 1cm/½in thick, angled slices (the idea is to have around 2-3 nice monk medallions per serving.
4. Place a small pan with 180ml/6fl oz water onto the stove to boil. Once boiling, add the saffron and immediately remove from the heat.
5. Cut out six large sheets of kitchen foil and lay them out onto a flat work surface. Fold each sheet in half to create a crease, then open out again.
6. Pour two tablespoons of the olive oil into the couscous mixture and stir well so that all the grains are well coated in oil.
7. Add the saffron water and stir again to combine.
8. Spread a little of the olive oil into the centre of the front half of each of the open foil sheets. Divide the fennel equally among the six sheets, arranging onto the oil.
9. Divide the couscous mixture out equally, placing on top of each of the piles of fennel.
10. Top each portion of couscous mixture with 2-3 slices of monkfish.
11. Drizzle equal amounts of the rest of the extra virgin over each portion of monkfish and season each with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
12. Bring the top edge of foil of each parcel over the monkfish and couscous pile to meet the bottom edge. Seal the edge by folding it over tightly three times and secure by pressing down firmly with your fingers. Turn each parcel 180 degrees and do the same to the opposite open side.
13. Each parcel should be well-sealed on three sides, with just the top open. Carefully place each parcel at a 45 degree angle, so as not to disturb the arrangements inside.
14. Carefully add three tablespoons of water into each bag, then seal the top edge of each parcel by the same folding process as before.
15. Place the parcels onto two baking trays and transfer to the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes. If the parcels are in the oven at different heights, swap over the shelves halfway through.
16. The parcels should have puffed up like pillows. Take the parcels out of the oven and place straight onto warmed plates.
17. For the salad, combine all the salad ingredients together in a large clean bowl and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
18. To serve, present the parcels on their plates and cut them open at the table. Serve the salad in its bowl and allow people to help themselves.
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