Chef’s Recipe : Armoricaine Monkfish with Camargue Wild Rice by Alain Roux at Brasserie Prince

Armoricaine Monkfish with Camargue Wild Rice

Amoricaine Monkfish, otherwise known as Américaine sauce, is a beautiful French dish named after the ancient name for the West of France. Here Alain Roux of Brasserie Prince in Edinburgh, The Waterside Inn and Roux at Skindles in Berkshire showcases his skills in marrying the best of Scottish produce with French flair.

Serves 4 as a main course
Monkfish & Langoustines 

• Monkfish Tail 1kg
• 80g Butter
• 25ml Olive Oil
• 12 x Large Scottish Langoustines (chilled)

Remove any sinew, fat and bones from the monkfish tail, and using a large sharp chef’s knife cut the tail into 180g portions. Season the fish with salt and pan fry in olive oil until nicely brown. Turn over add the butter and cook in the oven for 8-10 minutes, basting with the butter.

Blanch the langoustines in a large pan of boiling water for 1 minute and leave to cool. Remove the head and peel the tail off the langoustines, setting both the head and shells aside for the sauce.

Camargue Rice

• 250g Camargue Rice
• 1 x Small Onion (finely chopped)
• 25g Fresh Butter
• 250ml White Chicken Stock
• 250ml Water
• 2 Sprigs of Thyme
• 1 Bay Leaf

Preheat the oven to 150°C.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and sweat the onion until soft and translucent. Add the rice and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock, water and herbs, and bring to the boil, covering with a lid. Cook in the oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

When cooked, season with salt. Leave to cool before removing the thyme & bay leaf.

Armoricaine Sauce

• Langoustine heads & shells
• 10ml Olive oil
• 50ml Brandy
• 1 x Shallot
• 1 x Onion
• 2 x Garlic cloves
• 1 x Carrot
• 100ml White wine
• 6 x Plum tomatoes (quartered)
• 50g Tomato paste
• 2l Fish stock
• 3 Sprigs of tarragon
• 200ml Double cream
• 50g Butter (diced)

Pour the olive oil into a hot saucepan, before adding the langoustine heads & shells for about 5 minutes until the shells are nicely coloured. Turn down to a medium heat and pour over the brandy and flambé.

Chop the vegetables.

Remove the shells from the pan and set aside for later.

In the same pan sweat the vegetables until nicely browned, add the white wine and reduce until almost dry. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the shells back into the pan and cover with fish stock, bringing to the boil. Skim well and add the tarragon. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Pass through a fine sieve pressing well with the back of a ladle to extract all the flavour. Reduce until there is 500ml left in the pan. Add the double cream and bring to the boil, then whisk in the butter and serve.

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Brasserie Prince by Alain Roux, The Balmoral Hotel, 1 Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland EH2 2EQ