Grilled monkfish & brown crab thermidor
Ingredients
1 kg Monkfish (on the bone)
Thermidor sauce
2 kg Brown crab
600 gr Mushrooms
2 Chopped onions
4 cloves Garlic
2 tbs Tomato paste
2 tbs Mustard
150 ml Cognac
150 ml White wine
500 ml Fish stock
200 ml Double cream
100 gr Gruyère cheese
To taste Salt, lemon juice & cayenne pepper
Garnish
4 tbs Chives finely sliced
1 Lemon zested
Preparation
Preparation
Cure with salt for about 20 minutes, rinse well and pat dry. Meanwhile steam the crab for about 10 minutes, transfer into a bowl with ice water.
Then pick and clean the crab meat, reserving all the brown meat.
Sauce thermidor
Slice the mushrooms, cook off and reserve. Then finely dice the onion and garlic and sweat off. Now add tomato paste and mustard.
Deglaze with cognac and wine, reduce by half, add fish stock and cook until sauce begins to thicken. Then add the cream, bring to a boil and finish by grating in the cheese. Add the mushrooms back in together with the white and brown crab meat.
Season to taste with salt, lemon juice and cayenne pepper. The sauce needs to be rich and flavourful, but still refreshing and very slightly spicy.
Now heat the woodfire oven or broiler and a grill.
Finishing the dish
Pour the thermidor sauce into a baking dish, place the crab claws on top and grill until golden brown.
Meanwhile grill the monkfish until cooked and serve on or off the bone on top of the thermidor. Garnish with the chives and lemon zest.
