Monkfish Roasted With Herbs and Olives

Why is it important to tie the fish? Will it deform is not tied?

Seafood Watch at the Monterey Bay Aquarium: A concern for monkfish is the way they are caught. Monkfish are usually caught using bottom trawls, a method that can damage seafloor habitat and often results in high of unmarketable, illegal or undersized species. For these reasons, we recommend you avoid monkfish.

Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch categorizes seafood as Best Choice, Good Alternative, and Avoid. Monkfish (also known as goosefish) has been given the status Good Alternative, in reasonably abundant supply, with the caveat that some fishing methods have bycatch concerns. In fact, in some circumstances, monkfish itself is considered bycatch. It is a complex situation, which certainly deserves monitoring.

The most recent posting on Seafood Watch:
"Goosefish (aka monkfish) caught in the U.S. Atlantic with bottom gill nets or bottom trawls is a Good Alternative. Goosefish is no longer overfished, but there's bycatch of endangered, threatened or overfished species. Tip: Goosefish is called ankoh when prepared for sushi, and the liver is sold as ankimo.”

One reason to tie the fish with twine is that the monkfish "fillet" is not in the usual shape of a fillet---it is the tail of the fish, and it is tapered, and if left in this shape the thin side and the thicker side will not both cook evenly to perfection. In order to cook evenly, it helps to fold the thin end of the tail over itself and secure with twine such that the "fillet" is formed into an evenly shaped cylinder.

What a great tip to tie the monkfish, as one would a pork tenderloin, to tuck in the short end and help create a more uniform shape for even cooking. At 15 minutes cook time and after a 5 minute out of oven rest this was perfect for doneness and texture. Easy to make. Great flavors. Handsome to serve. For folks new to monkfish, the recipe assumes your fishmonger has cleaned it of the membrane surrounding the tail when it is fileted. If not done, you'll need to do that first.

Certain vendors, Whole Foods being one, source sustainably caught monkfish. Check with your fish seller to determine if they fall into the "Good Alternative" category mentioned by David Tanis...

David Tanis, in an a short article titled 'This Meaty Fish Begs to be Roasted', says that using butcher's twine "makes them compact for even cooking", but not necessary.

I made this tonight. I used fewer olives as I need to watch the salt, and added sliced fennel and a touch of white wine to the bottom of the pan with the herbs. It was delicious!

Delicious! Cooked with both monkfish and swordfish, and both were delicious. Underneath added slivers of onion, garlic and fennel. Had to cut the monkfish up to make sure it was cooked through. (I did not tie it up.) It took close to 1/2 hr for a 1/2 lb piece to be cooked through at its thickest point. Served with salad, baked potato and sauteed mixed veggies. Will make this again soon.

This was delicious. Used a mix of olives from the olive bar including kalamata and green, others mixed with herbs. The mix of lemon, olive oil, and olives became buttery with the monkfish. Recipe was forgiving. I took the fish out after 18 mins, let it rest and started to serve, but only the ends were done. Put the remains back in the oven and cooked for another 5-7 till the fish was cooked, but still tender. So good with a loaf of ciabatta and kale with pine nuts and raisins. Yum! Thank you!

I have made this recipe twice, once with monkfish and the other time with halibut, both delicious, even though I used pitted Kalamata olives and dried herbs in each case. It has a wonderful mix of flavors and textures.