Gordon Ramsay's Spiced Monkfish Tail with Citrus Vinaigrette

Voila! The end result
Full recipe here.

Right, first my variations. I was not going to go out of my way to hunt monkfish down and it was unlikely that the likes of Sainsburys, Tescos or the Morrisons in Acton (where I ended up by default as I was checking out the local farmers' market because I'm a sucker for fresh, albeit overpriced, produce) would have monkfish. Even if they did, I wasn't going to shell out £13.99/lb for it so, being the classy bird that I am, I settled on cod. Fresh cod I would like to stress.

I could not find any fresh tarragon leaves (this is my punishment for shopping at Morrisons) so I had no choice but to purchase, every chef's nightmare, dried tarragon leaves. Oh, I could just hear Gordy going "You fucking cow, stop ruining my dish!".

I replaced new potatoes with sweet potatoes as the Boyfriend and myself much prefer the latter. And finally, while I did purchase a bunch of asparagus, I opted for Italian salad leaves instead of watercress and spinach, because I am just such a rebel.

Oh, and I bought shallots. I had no idea if they were banana shallots but upon image googling "banana shallots", I was re-assured that banana shallots looked exactly like normal shallots.

The Boyfriend almost ruined the dish by choosing gala apples instead of Granny Smith apples, as per the recipe. Thankfully I spotted the offending items in the trolley before we got to the till and the Boyfriend was duly reprimanded and we got the correct apples for the vinaigrette. Only I'm allowed to divert from the original recipe.

I followed the recipe word for word. Whilst sautéing the sweet potatoes in my not so non-stick flat pan, they started browning quicker than I wanted them to and a few of them had black burnt edges but overall, they were fine and were duly transferred to the salad bowl.

The blanching of the asparagus went off without incident, I am happy to report.

While I was mixing the main ingredients to coat the fish in, I was a bit concerned by the fact that the recipe called for a teaspoon of salt. I don't normally like to cook with salt, and try to avoid it at all costs. Plus, 5-spice is salty enough on its own. But I figured what with 3 Michelin Guide stars under his belt, Gordy must know what he is doing so the salt stayed in the mix.

While cooking the fish, I noted that the recipe called for me to baste the fish as I cooked to keep it moist. Umm, not being the owner of a baster, I took my chances and didn't baste. All 4 fillets were threatening to flake to pieces but thankfully, they all cooked just before any falling apart took place.

The making of the vinaigrette was fun! I love fresh dressing, toppings etc. although I will admit that I am often guilty of using sauces, dressings etc. that come out of a bottle (I mean come on, you don't expect me to make my own damn mayonnaise when Hellmans do such a good job!).

I put the salad together (salad tossing is equally fun) and the Boyfriend and I sat down to eat. The Boyfriend tucked in first and declared that it was "delicious and tasty".

The Boyfriend tucking in
Not quite trusting The Boyfriend whose idea of cooking is bunging a Pizza Express pizza into the oven, I took my first bite. Overall, the dish was tasty but as I feared, the fish was a bit saltier than I wanted it to be. Upon hearing me declare "The fish is a bit salty", The Boyfriend bravely said that that was actually his first thought, so obviously he was afraid he would get a smack behind the head had he said it first. Honesty in a relationship is not dead. In the future, I will be omitting the teaspoon of salt, you hear that Gordy?

Apart from the salty fish, everything else was really nice and tasty; the vinaigrette was tangy and complemented the fish and the salad was fresh and it was a nice change from my usual Chinese-style stir-fry in oyster sauce cop-out. As Borat would say, "Great success!". Good recipe Gordy, one which I will continue to make until I get it right, sans the salt (I may even buy monkfish in the future, the possibilities are endless).

Ariel view. Note the non-matching cutlery set