From September and through the winter, I begin to see monkfish at shops in Greece and here in Canada. It’s not a pretty fish but it’s delish, no pin bones and the meat on the fish comes from two loins that are attached to the tail bone.

You would get two pieces of that resemble pork tenderloin. Monkfish is also known as angler fish or in Greek, peskandritsa. In Greece, I’ve enjoyed monkfish as souvlaki and in this instance, as a saganaki. Saganaki refers to any dish that is contained in a two-handled vessel.

This dish is served as an appetizer, to be shared with others. Seafood saganaki dishes are either tomato or mustard based, and seeing how fresh tomatoes are nowhere to be found, we’re going with the mustard based sauce.

Monkfish gets cut into think medallions then seasoned and dredged in flour. I then brown both sides and set the fish pieces aside. The sauce is built with sweet onions, green peppers and a chilli for heat, mustard, white wine and stock. The finishing touches are lemon juice, parsley, dried oregano and a crumbled Feta. What the heck, the festive season is here and a couple of knobs of cold butter make the sauce velvety and rich.

Monkfish Saganaki

(serves 4)

2 monkfish loins, cut into 1 1/2 inch medallions

salt and pepper

approx. 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (for dredging)

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 red onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 cubanelle (sweet green) pepper, halved and sliced

1 small red chilli, chopped

1/4 cup mustard

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 – 2 cups hot stock (chicken or vegetable)

salt to taste

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 Tbsp. of unsalted cold butter

2 tsp. dried Greek oregano

extra lemon juice to taste

1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese

1. Season your monkfish medallions with salt and pepper and dredge lightly in flour. Pour the oil in a large skillet and bring up to medium-high. Brown both sides of the medallions until just golden and set aside.
2. Now add the onions, peppers, garlic and chilli and sweat for 5-6 minutes. Add the mustard and stir in  for a minute or until incorporated. Now add the wine and place the monfish pieces back in the skillet. Add enough stock to almost come up to the fish pieces, add some more salt to taste and lemon juice. Bring up to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the cover, reduce another 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened to your liking. Take off the heat, add the cold butter and swirl in, the chopped fresh parsley, oregano and crumbled Feta. Add an extra squeeze of lemon juice if desired.
4. Serve with good homemade bread, serving with Ouzo, Tsipouro or a Kir Yanni Samaropetra.