Name: Seared Monkfish and Celery Salad with a Pernod Dressing
Yield: A Light Dinner for 4
Ingredients: 100 g/3½ oz mangetout (snow peas), trimmed and cut into strips; big handful of fresh coriander (cilantro), finely chopped; 3–4 spring onions (scallion(s)), chopped; ½ tsp Tabasco sauce; 3 tbsp Pernod (or Ouzo/Raki); 1½ tbsp sour cream; 2 tsp nigella seeds; juice and grated zest of 1 lime; 1–2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil; 125 ml/4 fl oz/½ cup vegetable stock; knob of butter; 2 celery hearts, halved lengthways; salt and ground black pepper; 2–3 tbsp olive oil; 2–3 garlic cloves, sliced; 1 onion, sliced; ½ fat head of Chinese leaves (Chinese cabbage), chopped; sea salt; 1 large tail of monkfish (around 450 g/1 lb., cut on the bias into about 8 medallions; 2 garlic cloves; 3 tbsp olive oil

Preparation info

A Light Dinner for
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Salmagundi

By Sally Butcher

Published 2014

About

Monkfish is a funny dude. Not quite like any other fish in the pond. He’s ugly when he’s fully dressed, and once he’s undressed he doesn’t even look like a fish. He’s kind of rubbery if not cooked properly, and very rich. But he shines in salads, as he is wondrously boneless (at least, the bit that you generally buy to cook is). This is based on a dish I used to cook when I worked as a sous sous sous chef in a high-falootin’ fish restaurant.