This meal may be the one I repeat in our kitchen most often.  It’s a Mark Bittman recipe which I cut out of the New York Times 15 years ago (Note: I’ve learned to use only about two thirds of the suggested amount of olive oil;  any more than that and you’ll probably find the potatoes swimming in it at the end).  The formula can be prepared with many different kinds of fish, basically any white fish.  Bittman:  “Monkfish works very well . . . . But other fillets will give similar results, including red snapper, sea bass, pollock, wolffish, even catfish.”  I make one other alteration to the recipe:  While I almost never peel potatoes anyway before cooking, I definitely do not when preparing this dish.

• monkfish tail from P.E.&D.D. Seafood, and black oil-cured olives, roasted on the top of a bed of sliced and seasoned German Butterball potatoes from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm which had been roasted previously in a generous amount of olive oil along with 15 or so fresh bay leaves from Westside Market
• cavalo nero from Northshire Farm, wilted with olive oil along with garlic halves from Migliorelli Farms which had first been heated in the oil
• The wine was a Portuguese white, DAC, Dão 2013

This has become another recipe favorite of ours.  It’s from Mark Bittman.  It’s even more attractive for being amenable to the use of most any firm white fish as its star.

• monkfish from Blue Moon Fish, roasted on top of thinly-sliced German Butterball potatoes from Keith’s Farm which had already been roasted in a very generous amount of olive oil, along with fresh bay leaves from West Side Market and Kalamata olives from Whole Foods
• cavolo nero, also from Keith’s Farm, served as a contorno in a separate small bowl, braised with garlic from Norwich Meadows Farm, finished with a drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was  an Italian white, le Salse, Verdicchio di matelica 2013 from Flatiron Wines

It happened again.

The second appearance of this astonishing dish was as delicious, simply assembled, and good looking as the first.

I had used the same lotte recipe for the preparation (in the U.S., it’s usually called ‘monkfish’) just a few weeks ago, but yesterday at the Greenmarket I was seduced by two perfect ‘tails’. Then while telling my fish monger how I had cooked them the last time I bought Monkfish, I decided I had to do it again.

The basic, quite simple preparation outline, which I think I altered only with the addition of a bit of a fresh seasoning pepper, comes from the women of the London River Cafe, specifically, their book, ‘Italian Easy London River Cafe’, a brilliant guide to cooking with few ingredients, simple techniques – and spectacular results.

Even the accompaniments were similar to those of the earlier dinner, but I decided to publish it anyway, if only for the photo of the lotte inside the au gratin before it went into the oven.

• two 8-ounce monkfish tails, which is a fish also known as Lotte in France, Rape (pronounced “rah-pay”) in Spain, Coda di rospo in Italy, or Teufelfisch in Germany, from Pura Vida Seafood Company, placed inside an a tin-lined copper au gratin pan that had first been heated inside a 425º oven, with olive oil drizzled on the surface, a number of small sections of a rosemary branch arranged on the bottom and the fish placed inside on top of the herb, covered with thin slices cut from most of one lemon (the lemon had been separately seasoned with sea salt, black pepper after it had been cut), sprinkled with a tiny finely chopped orange aji dulce seasoning pepper from Eckerton Hill Farm and given a drizzle of olive oil, each tail topped with one salted Sicilian anchovy that had first been rinsed well, then filleted, and the fish itself seasoned to taste, the pan returned to the oven and cooked until the lotte was done, meaning, until the juices were opaque [about 15, maybe 20 minutes, although it’s important to check, maybe using a reliable instant read thermometer to show a 145º temperature at the center, but using that gauge alone can be tricky with a small piece of fish], removed from the oven and arranged on two plates (again, without a garnish, because it already looked spectacular)
• twelve ounces of Yukon Gold potatoes (described at the market as “new potatoes”, but this is January) from Norwich Meadows Farm, boiled, halved, tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper, garnished with micro red sorrel from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• a bunch of beautiful tender rainbow chard, also from Norwich Meadow Farms (again, this is January!), wilted in a little olive oil where a halved clove of rocambole garlic had first been heated until softened and fragrant, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a small glug [Brit.] of olive oil
• the wine was a Spanish (Rías Baixas) white, Albariño “Xión”, Bodegas y Viñedos Attis 2019
• the music was Vivaldi’s 1733 opera, ‘Montezuma’, Alan Curtis directing the Ensemble, Il Complesso Bar (noting that the incomplete manuscript of this opera was only discovered in Berlin only in 2002, and the ensemble’s Vivaldi scholar and violinist, Alessandro Ciccolini, restored or completed it for a performing edition)

It was my first stab at this wonderful, shockingly simple dish, and the recipe had been sitting on our bookshelf for over 15 years. It’s from ‘Italian Easy London River Cafe’ (page 131 in my copy), one of my favorite cookbooks. It also ended up looking far more interesting than the formula would have suggested (I almost passed it by for that reason: for being too basic). And it was incredibly delicious.

This is my slightly revised version of the text in the book:

• monkfish tail, also known as Lotte, Coda di rospo, or Teufelfisch (last night I had four 4-ounce pieces after cutting the largest of 3 in half) from American Seafood Company placed inside a roasting pan that had first been heated inside a 425º oven, olive oil drizzled on the surface and a number of small sections of a rosemary branch arranged on the bottom, the fish then covered with thin slices of lemon that had been cut from most of one fruit and seasoned with sea salt, black pepper, a finely chopped tiny Grenada seasoning pepper from Eckerton Hill Farm, and a drizzle of olive oil, a Sicilian anchovy fillet (2 salted anchovies) arranged on each of the four, which were then seasoned themselves, the pan placed inside the oven until the fish was done, that is, until the juices were opaque [this time it took about 15 minutes, but it’s important to check (Note: an instant read thermometer would read 145º at the center, but using that gauge can be tricky)], the monkfish removed from the oven and arranged on two plates (no garnish this time, because it already looked exciting)
• nearly a pound of Yukon Gold potatoes from Gorzynski Farm, boiled, halved, tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and chipped bronze fennel
• a mix of fresh greens (green mustards from Norwich Meadows Farm, a small mix of several kinds of tender greens from Windfall Farms, a few leaves from a head of radicchio from Manhattan Fruit Exchange in the Chelsea Market, and a little arugula, also from Norwich Meadows) wilted inside a medium antique tin-lined copper pot in a little olive oil where a halved clove of garlic had first been heated until softened and fragrant
• the wine was a French (Bordeaux/Graves/Cérons) white, Chateau de Cerons Graves Blanc 2017, from Bottlerocket
• the music was Rossini’s 1823 opera, ‘Semiramide’, Mark Elder conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Opera Rara Chorus

It’s called Monkfish around here, but it’s also the delicacy the French call Lotte, the Italians Coda di rospo, the Spanish Cola de Rape, the Germans Seeteufel, and the English Anglerfish.  Whatever it’s known as, it’s a delicious fish, and not really like any other.

I love this dish, and the fact that the monkfish can be substituted with other firm white fish fillets, like sea bass or pollock. I go way back with it: The original recipe, from Mark Bittman, appeared in the New York Times almost 20 years ago; I still have his ‘The Minimalist’ dog-eared clipping in my files.

• nine or ten ounces of scrubbed and thinly-sliced medium-size Peter Wilcox potatoes from Tamarack Hollow Farm, arranged, slightly overlapping, on the bottom of a glazed earthenware oven pan covered with 3 tablespoons, or slightly more, of a Spanish (Seville) house olive oil from Whole Foods Market, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, 10 whole Italian bay leaves from Buon Italia scattered on the potatoes, and then more oil (another 3 tablespoons or so) poured on top, the pan placed inside a 400º oven for about 20 minutes, turning it back to front halfway through, and, when the potatoes had begun to brown, two thirds of a cup of pitted Sicilian black oil-cured olives from Buon Italia were scattered about them, and 4 monkfish ‘tails’ (a total of one pound) from P.E. & D.D. Seafood placed on top, the fish sprinkled with salt and pepper and the pan returned to the oven for another 10 minutes more, or until the monkfish was tender but not overcooked

• one bunch of long fava bean greens, stems and leaves, from Gorzynski Ornery Farm, washed in several changes of cold water, drained, chopped roughly, and gradually stirred into a large, heavy, antique copper pot in a tablespoon or more of olive oil already heated above a medium flame, until they had wilted, a generous amount of roughly-chopped ‘Common’ or ‘Mojito mint’, from S. & S.O. Produce, tossed in, followed by a bit of sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, the vegetable arranged on the plates, drizzled with some more olive oil
• the wine was a Spanish (Bierzo) white, Palacio de Canedo Godello 2016, from Foragers Wine
• the music was the NOW Ensemble album, ‘Awake’, from New Amsterdam Records