Monk Fish with Preserved Meyer Lemon

My preserved meyer lemon, from the previous post, was made a month ago and is ready to be enjoyed.  With the preserved lemon, I made a monk fish dish.  Monk fish is from the icy waters of Atlantic.  I see the fish every now and then at this great fish monger.

First, I made a mixture consisting of ¼ piece of preserved lemon diced, pinch of shallots, julienned parsley and some olive oil.  The preserved lemon should be salty enough to skip adding more seasoning.  Set aside.  Warm the plates in an oven heated to 150 F.

I cut the fish biased about ¼ thick, placed a couple flat-leaf parsley leaves, and some pepper.  I wrapped the fish with a prosciutto.  The prosciutto was salty enough.  So I skipped seasoning.  Heat the pan hot enough that it is smoking when a few tablespoons of olive oil are added.  Dust the fish with flour.  Two-three minutes of cooking on each side of fish.  Tilt the pan and glaze the fish with hot oil using a spoon.  Plate the fish with some of the preserved lemon mixture.  The family had the dish with a light-bodied red Burgundy from the 2004 vintage.  It was yummy.

Meyer Lemon – the Grand Cru of Lemons

There are lemons and there are meyer lemons.  They are in season in January and February.  To me, meyer lemons are a class by themselves – hauntingly aromatic, sour and yet slightly sweet.  I simply slice them thinly right into salads, with skin and all.  I would like to add meyer lemon rinds into our local tuna tartar dish with say sauce, green onion and a dash of sesame seed oil.  I like the tuna tartar with toasty baguette slices or make it into a cone with nori and rice.  A crisp, minerally Champagne or Vouvray Sparkling or Montagnieu Sparkling (from Bugey near Savoie) would accompany the dish well.

Sometimes, I like to simply finely chop meyer lemon with parsley and shallots.  Add some salt and good quality olive oil.  A few raisons can be added to balance the salt and sour.  Spoon the mixture over grilled or pan fried fish or roasted chicken.

To extend the pleasures of short-lived season of meyer lemons, I like to preserve them.  Simply cut them into halves or quarters, sprinkle about 1 table spoon of kosher salt per lemon, pack them into sterilized jars, and squeeze a few more meyer lemons to top it off. I like to keep the preserved lemons in the refrigerator rather than out in the room temperature.  I think the cool preservation keeps them aromatic and crunchy.  The preserved lemons should be ready to enjoy in about 1 month.

The preserved meyer lemons are, of course, classic in Moroccan cooking.  One of the best books is by Kitty Morse – ‘Cooking at the Kasbah’.  Moroccan dishes are very wine friendly, least to my palette. 

Meyer lemons are available at specialty shops, including this one.