Darina Allen: How to make the most popular monkfish dish in our restaurant

Plus why it's a terrific time of year to forage for ‘weeds’ and edible flowers

Try this new recipe for monkfish cheeks with asparagus and butter sauce.

It's a super exciting time of the year for cooks and gardeners. The hungry gap is almost over. We’ve been rewarded with a bumper garden rhubarb harvest this year after we piled on a generous mulch of compost last autumn.

The soil has warmed up so we’re sowing seeds as fast as we possibly can. The ground needs to be between 6- 10°C before seeds will germinate, but of course you can scatter salad leaf seeds into a seed tray on your windowsills or radish seeds into a mushroom chip. (The latter need a greater depth of soil) and will be ready to enjoy, 3-4 weeks from now, depending on whether they are grown inside or outside.

It’s also a terrific time of the year for foraging for ‘weeds’ and edible flowers. We’ve been adding the tender, young leaves of hawthorn into our green salads too. That may sound crazy, but they are scientifically proven to be hugely beneficial to our cardiovascular system, so go and have a nibble and check them out.

Both hawthorn and blackthorn are Irish natives, the leaves come first on the May bush (hawthorn), the flowers come later and the haw fruits ripen in autumn to the delight of the birds.

The fruit of the blackthorn, on the other hand, are sloes. The fluffy white flowers come before the leaves in May, so make a mental note of where you spot a shrub so you can harvest sloes in early September in time to make a batch of sloe gin for Christmas.

Asparagus spears are loving this warm, sunny weather, they’ve been popping out of the ground with gay abandon for the past few weeks. Enjoy the Irish crop while it’s in season. Bradley Putz’s asparagus from Lisheen Greens can be found at his stall at Skibbereen Farmers’ Market. Get there early on Saturday morning before it’s all snapped up. It’ll be quite different from the Italian or French asparagus on the supermarket shelves.

My most recent discovery at our local fish shop is monkfish cheeks. They are about the size of a ‘half-crown’—if that rings bells—and can of course be poached, fried in a little sizzling butter or grilled. They are exquisite served with sea kale, asparagus and a buttery sauce. A feast.

Rhubarb, sea kale and asparagus are really worth growing in your garden. Rhubarb is relatively easy to buy during the season. Irish asparagus is difficult enough to find, whereas sea kale is virtually never sold in shops or supermarkets so it’s essential to put the effort into growing your own for its delicate, exquisite taste. It’s even rarer and more delicious than Irish asparagus, you’ll need to cover the crowns to protect them from January until April. Traditionally, they were with terracotta pots, which look beautiful in your garden.

Apart from costing an arm and a leg, they are really difficult to source, but black plastic bins weighted down with a brick or heavy stone work perfectly, even though they look far from photogenic.

There are also lots and lots of young spring nettles ready for the picking, so next week, I’ll devote an entire column to them.

Meanwhile, try this new recipe for monkfish cheeks with asparagus and butter sauce.

Poached Monkfish Cheeks with Asparagus Butter

recipe by:Darina Allen

This is by far the most popular monkfish dish in our restaurant. Serve it sparingly for a special occasion and don’t compromise the recipe.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 675g fresh monkfish cheeks

• 1.2 litres water

• 1 tsp salt

• For the asparagus butter

• 6-12 spears of asparagus, depending on length

• 150g butter (preferably unsalted)

• 225ml cream

• sprigs of chervil, to garnish

Method

1. Trim the monkfish cheeks if necessary Sprinkle lightly with salt and refrigerate until needed.

2. To prepare and cook the asparagus, hold each spear of over your index finger down near the root end, it will snap at the point where it begins to get tough (use the woody ends for asparagus stock for soup). Some people like to peel the asparagus, but we rarely do.

3. Tie similar-sized asparagus in bundles with raffia. Choose a tall saucepan (one can buy specially designed asparagus pots with baskets). Alternatively, cook in 2.5cm of boiling salted water (1 teaspoon salt to every 600ml) in an oval cast-iron casserole. It’s really easy to overcook because it will go on cooking after removed from the heat. Cook for 3-4 minutes until al dente, or until a knife will pierce the root end easily, and drain.

4. Put the cream into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and gently reduce to about 3 tablespoons or until it is in danger of burning, then whisk in the butter bit by bit as though you were making a Hollandaise sauce.

5. Trim off the tips of the asparagus, then slice the stalks. Gently fold both into the butter. If necessary, thin the sauce with a splash of the warm asparagus cooking water and keep warm.

6. Bring the water to the boil and add the salt. Add the monkfish cheeks and simmer for 4-5 minutes or until completely white and no longer opaque. Drain well.

7. Arrange in a warm serving dish or on individual plates. Coat the monkfish cheeks with the asparagus butter. Garnish with sprigs of chervil and serve immediately.

Myrtle’s Almond Tart with Rhubarb & Strawberries

recipe by:Darina Allen

This was one of the first recipes I learned from Myrtle when I came to Ballymaloe House in the late 1960’s – still a top favourite.

Servings

12

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 110g soft butter

• 110g caster sugar

• 110g ground almonds

• 300ml whipped cream

• For the filling

• 900g garden rhubarb

• 200-250g sugar

• early Irish strawberries (or raspberries in season)

• Redcurrant glaze (optional)

• sweet cicely, to garnish

• 2 x 18cm sandwich tins or 24 tartlet tins

• For the redcurrant glaze

• 350g redcurrant jelly

• 1 tbsp water approx. (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together, stir in the ground almonds together.

3. Divide the mixture between the two tins. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20-30 minutes approx., or until golden brown.

4. The tarts will be too soft to turn out immediately, so cool for about 5 minutes before removing from tins.

5. Do not allow to set hard or the butter will solidify, and they will stick to the tins.

6. If this happens, pop the tins back into the oven for a few minutes so the butter melts, they will then come out easily. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

7. To make the rhubarb, preheat the oven to 200˚C/Gas Mark 6.

8. Wipe the rhubarb but do not peel, slice into 2 1/2 cm pieces and arrange in a single layer in a medium size oven-proof dish.

9. Scatter the sugar over the rhubarb and allow to macerate for 30 minutes.

10. Roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes approx., depending on size, until the rhubarb is just tender.

11. For the redcurrant glaze: In a small stainless steel saucepan melt the redcurrant jelly, add 1 tablespoon of water if necessary. Stir gently, but do not whisk or it will become cloudy.

12. Cook it for just 1-2 minutes longer or the jelly will darken. Store any leftover glaze in an airtight jar and reheat gently to melt it before use.

13. If you are using yellow or green fruit, use apricot glaze instead of red currant jelly.

14. Just before serving, arrange the roast rhubarb on the base, top with raspberries.

15. Glaze with redcurrant glaze. Decorate with rosettes of whipped cream. Garnish with sweet cicely.

Sea Kale on Toast

recipe by:Darina Allen

We grow sea kale both in the herb garden and the kitchen garden — it really is the most exquisite vegetable — delicate and precious.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 450g sea kale

• 50-75g butter

• salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

1. Wash the sea kale gently and trim into manageable lengths. about 10cm. Bring about 600ml water to a fast rolling boil, add one teaspoon of salt. Pop in the sea kale, cover and boil until tender — 5 to 15 minutes depending on thickness.

2. Just as soon as a knife pierces the sea kale easily, drain it and then serve on hot plates with a little melted butter and perhaps a few small triangles of toast. At the beginning of its short season in April, we serve it as a first course on hot toast with melted butter or Hollandaise sauce.

3. When it becomes more abundant, it makes a wonderful accompaniment to fish, particularly poached wild Irish salmon or sea trout.

Early strawberries

Early strawberries should be available in the next week or two.

Check out Glen Fruits urban farm located in Dungarvan, Co Waterford on Facebook: @glenfruits. Haley Berry Fruit Farm in Newrath, Waterford supplies Ardkeen Food Store in Waterford city with produce from her small holding fruit farm – raspberries, gooseberries, plums, damsons, greengages in season. To order call 021 464 6522.

Where can I buy monkfish cheeks?

Check with your local fishmonger for monkfish cheeks. If you are in Cork, Ballycotton Seafood with locations in Garryvoe, Midleton, the Old English Market and in the Hazelwood Shopping Centre, Glanmire have monkfish cheeks regularly. Ring in advance.