Brochette de lotte à l'echalote

Serves 4

Now this dish unfortunately never made its way on to any of the menus, although we used to talk about it regularly at Le Caprice tastings. You might well wonder why the brochette never made it to the finishing line – because as you can see from its title it simply rolls off the tongue in a rhyming slang sort of way. Jeremy texted me recently to remind me of the brochette de lotte à l'echalote, and as a further tribute to times gone by, I thought I should create this dish once and for all – even if it never does gain a place on the menu.

1kg monkfish fillet, cut into 2cm chunks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A little olive oil for grilling

For the sauce

4 large shallots, peeled, halved and finely chopped
A good knob of butter
100ml white wine
150ml fish stock
150ml double cream
100g cold butter, diced
11/2tbsp chopped parsley

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan and cook the shallots for 2 minutes until soft. Add the wine and simmer until it has completely reduced, then add the fish stock and do the same. Add the cream and simmer until it has reduced by half then remove from the heat and whisk in the butter until it has emulsified into the sauce; season to taste. Pre-heat a grill or ribbed griddle pan. Thread the pieces of monkfish on to skewers, season, brush with oil and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Serve the sauce separately or poured over.