Monkfish with Stuffed Kohlrabi

Saturday is market day - and what could be more natural on the first free Saturday since time immemorial to finally do some real shopping at the market? The weather is terrific, it’s a joy to see the many stalls that can now really go all out with the seasonal products. I end up as always at the fish stand and can not resist - a huge monkfish fillet is there in the display, I have to strike. Fittingly, I find in the evening in Claudia’s blog an entry about monkfish preparation, the fish is cooked. Cooked? Getting used to it, but I was never really satisfied with my monkfish frying, so it’s time for alternative methods….

I’ve come across the kohlrabi idea in several places. Oskar Marti makes a chive-chanterelle stuffing and a roux with the contents of the kohlrabi. That is too coarse for me today with the fine fish, I prefer to follow the idea of Michael Laumen, who cooks various summer vegetables in a Noilly Prat cream sauce and fills the kohlrabi with it.

This should be accompanied by a small portion of potato gratin. So, enough of the preface, here we go.

Part 1: Kohlrabi

First, I boil two medium kohlrabi unpeeled in salted water for 30 minutes “al dente”. Then peel and cut off a top. I use a baller to remove the inside, it will be made into braised vegetables tomorrow. While the kohlrabi is cooking, I prepare the filling. 150 g chanterelles, a small carrot, a few peas fresh from the pod and a few broad beans, split and shelled, I steam in a pan in a little butter until done. Salt, pepper and stuff into the kohlrabi. Then I can set those aside for now.

Part 2: Potatoes and sauce

You are well familiar with the gratin, by now the pre-cooking method has become standard. I heat 250 ml milk in the pan, add salt, pepper, nutmeg, thyme, oregano and about 3 tablespoons grated mountain cheese. Then I plane two medium potatoes into it with a truffle slicer, bring everything to a boil briefly, then cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.

The sauce is simple, but needs to reduce for a while, so it’s on now. I prepare it in parallel with the potatoes. I saute one shallot and one clove of garlic in a little butter until soft. Then I add 100 ml white wine and 50 ml Martini Bianco. Both boil down almost completely, then I add about 300 ml fish stock, which I still have frozen from the last fish event. The stock also boils down well, the bottom of the sauté pan is covered by maybe 2 cm. I strain the sauce through a tea strainer, add 100 ml cream and let it boil down again.

Meanwhile, I heated some saffron threads in a porcelain mortar in the oven to 50°. This is to help it develop its aroma better. I crush the few threads and add the saffron to the sauce, which promptly turns yellow. After further reduction, it turns a beautiful orange.

Part 3: Gratinate and prepare the fish

I put the potatoes and kohlrabi per serving on a long porcelain plate. A little of the sauce already goes down into the vegetables. On top of the kohlrabi I put the cooked shallot stücle from the sauce, which will brown nicely during the gratinating. I put the two plates in the oven at 220° for 15 minutes, halfway through I cover the kohlrabi with aluminum foil.

Now it’s the turn of the fish. I cut the 400 g monkfish fillet into four slices, each three centimeters thick. Should I really…? I take heart and heat 1 liter of water with salt in the pan. The fish pieces come down and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Then quickly out, briefly drain on paper towels and then put on the plates from the oven.

Sauce over it, a few chive rolls and the dish is ready. It still comes to a small crisis, because I do not get the long plates with my macro photographed in whole, but shortly after we can finally eat.

Very fine combination, the fish is strong but not chewy and the sauce, which tastes almost syrupy-sweet, complements it well. Without such an intense sauce, the cooked fish would probably be too boring. The same goes for the kohlrabi, the sauce combines ideally with the vegetables. And the gratin … always a sure bet!

And it was not much too much this time, even if I was already worried…

kohlrabi stem stuffed with chanterelles, steamed anglerfish, noilly prat sauce