A Tribute to Gaudi: Pan-Roasted Monkfish, Confit Peppers and Fiery Patatas Bravas with Chorizo-Albarino Emulsion

This recipe comes from Eric Ripert, who runs Le Bernardin in New York City. It has held three Michelin stars for a long time and it is widely regarded as the best seafood restaurant in the United States. It is currently the #15 restaurant in the world, according to the Restaurant Magazine's Top 50 Restaurants of 2009.

This is the first thing I have tried to make of his, and you can see what all the fuss is about when you eat it. It is simply magic. Total harmony of ingredients. Tastes of Spain. Light. Complex. I could go on. The point is, the man has skills. He was inspired by a visit to Barcelona when he made this dish. If you have ever been there, this dish will take you back there. Unless you were eating at McDonald's while in Spain. Then you will probably miss the point of this. And maybe should just stay home next time instead of traveling hundreds of miles to Spain. But I digress...

I was not able to find monkfish, but I used coley, which is a nice, meaty white fish. This didn't take that long to throw together, either. This would be a killer 'show-off' entertaining dish! I would eat the red sauce for breakfast.

RED SAUCE
1 cup red bell pepper, 1/4" dice
½ teaspoon Scotch bonnet pepper, seeded and minced
1 ½ teaspoons spicy paprika
fine sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons esplette pepper powder

WHITE SAUCE
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons creme fraiche
1 teaspoon lemon juice
fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper

PATATAS BRAVAS
2-3 Yukon Gold potato
canola oil, for deep frying
fine sea salt

CONFIT PEPPERS
1 small zucchini
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
4 sprigs thyme
½ cup red bell pepper, julienne
½ cup yellow bell pepper, julienne
½ cup red onion, julienne
fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper

CHORIZO-ALBARINO EMULSION
bones from 1 monkfish, chopped in 2" pieces
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 ½ ounces Spanish chorizo, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons shallot, sliced
1 tablespoon garlic, sliced
2 ½ cups Albarino or other dry white wine
½ cup chicken jus or full-flavored stock
fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper

MONKFISH
2 tablespoons canola oil
4x7 ounce monkfish loins
fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
Wondra flour

GARNISH
sprig micro parsley

RED SAUCE
For the red sauce, combine the peppers, paprika, salt and Esplette pepper in a saucepan and add just enough water to barely cover the peppers. Bring the water to a boil, then recude to a simmer and cook until the peppers are very soft and the liquid is thick. Remove from the heat to cool slightly. Puree the sauce in a blender until very smooth. Set aside.

WHITE SAUCE
For the white sauce, mix the mayonnaise, creme fraiche and lemon juice together in a small bowl. Season with salt and white pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

POTATOES
For the potatoes, cut each potato into 8 long wedges, about 3/4" wide, without peeling them. Lay each wedge on it's side and cut out the center portion with a 3" round cutter; discard the trimmings. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until they are tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and cool them on a towel-lined baking sheet, then cover with another towel and set aside.

CONFIT PEPPERS
While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the confit peppers. Slice off the skin of the zucchini and julienne the green parts. To cook the vegetables, combine 1/4 cup of the extra-virgin olive oil and 3/4 cup of the regular olive oil in each of four small pans. (you can use one larger pan for both kinds of peppers, if you wish, combing 1/2 cup of each oil.) Add 1 garlic clove and 1 thyme sprig to each pan and heat over very low heat. Add one type of vegetable to each pan and cook until tender (for zucchini, this should be 3-4 minutes; for the peppers, 10-12 minutes, for the onion, 12-15 minutes). Drain the vegetables and combine them in a small pot. Season to taste with salt and white pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

EMULSION
For the chorizo-Albarino emulsion, put the monkfish bones in a small roasting pan and roast for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the chorizo and cook over low heat until it has rendered it's fat, about 10 minutes. Add the shallots, garlic and fish bones to the chorizo and cook until the shallots and garlic are soft. Add the white wine, bring to a boil, and reduce by a little more than half. Add the chicken jus and simmer until lightly thickened, about 10 minutes.

Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and season with salt and white pepper. Emulsify the sauce with a handheld immersion blender.

FINISH POATOES
Heat the canola oil for the potatoes in a deep pot until it registers 400F. Fry the potatoes for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and season with salt.

MONKFISH
Meanwhile, to cook the monkfish, divide the canola oil between two large ovenproof saute pans and heat until the oil is very hot but not smoking. Season the monkfish on both sides with salt and pepper and lightly dust with Wondra flour. Add the monkfish to the pans and cook until the fish is golden brown. Transfer the pans to the oven and cook the fish 3-4 minutes, or until a metal skewer can be easily inserted into the fish and, if left in for 5 seconds, feels just warm when touched to your lip. Turn the monkfish onto the unseared side briefly before removing from the pans. Allow the fish to rest for a minute before slicing.

While the monkfish is cooking, briefly warm the pepper confit; keep warm.

FINISH AND SERVE
To serve, arrange 4 potato wedges in a fan on one side of each serving plate. Drizzle them with the red sauce and then the white sauce. Slice each monkfish into 5-7 pieces (depending on the size) and arrange the slices on the opposite side of each plate. Spoon some warm pepper confit on top of the monkfish and garnish with the micro parsley. Spoon or pour the emulsion over and around the fish, and serve immediately.