. . . did I tell you about her personality?!

Usually I get in to trouble when I think to advise parents on how to entertain their chitlins'. But I can't help think that at a certain age, I'm guessing 5, a trip to the fishmonger is a worthwhile start to a Saturday. In my eyes - albeit, non-parenting ones, it's the perfect learning adventure.

This morning I was in Lapointe's and the first thing that attracted my attention was a Scorpion fish. Now, in a world of ugly fish, this is the mother of all ugly Ichthus! You can't help but wonder about the poor blighter, and his sorry state of affairs, who first had to try this for food ... seriously! But in Lapointe's, there's always a helping hand to remind you that "beauty is only skin deep". . . although, as JJ pointed out in the 1970's sitcom Good Times, "Beauty may be skin deep. . . but ugly, it goes aaalll the way through"!

Nevertheless, according to my guide at Lapointe's, it's a brilliant ingredient in bouillabaisse because of its density, and it's very popular in the Mediterranean.

I, however, moved on to Monkfish. Now, in my humble opinion, the Monkfish would make the Scorpion Fish the Belle-of the-ball ! I'm usually careful about serving fish to my regular dining partner, and I'm fairly certain that if I came home with even a "cute" little baby Monkfish I was going to be eating Sushi on my own from now on. So I picked up a fairly safe choice for her, Tilapia.

But I was going to try the ugly beast myself - in the words of the Uber Chef, it's all about the nasty bits. Still, I've always been a bit intimidated by the Monkfish. To be honest, even when filleted, it appears to bear this filament that I can only describe as being. . . slimey! Seriously, it looks like something sliced off an alien.

I think the website, Monkfish Abbey (ya, I know; it has its own website?!!), says it best "a monkfish is an ugly looking saltwater fish that is mostly a big head and a meaty tail" - (actually, I've worked for a couple of people who fit that description . . . but I digress) . I had the young Poissonnerie cut me a small (600gm) piece from the tail, and I was on my way.

Monkfish is a white fish and therefore fairly neutral in taste. It dines on lobster, so it might be slightly richer than I would expect from Tilapia - but I was assured that it didn't come close to Sea Bass. That made me think that it was more cod-like. I was a little intimadated by the "slimey filament", but as I started to prepare dinner it was obvious that I could easily trim this off - and the texture of the meat became immediatly obvious; it was a perfect loin - it was 2 inches square - 3 inches long.

Mirroring what I was doing with the Tilapia, I trimmed off the edges that I didn't like and placed the remainder on some aluminum wrap; I ground some pepper over it - put two reasonable slices of butter (unsalted) on top, and then put three sprigs of fresh dill on top of that. I covered the small 3 x 2 x 2 fillet with two slices of a blood orange and added two more slices on either side, wrapped up the foil, and then baked it for 30 to 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven. I had added my partner's Tilapia at the fifteen minutes mark, given that it was so much thinner.

I served the fish with some tiny red potatoes that I had boiled in shallow bath of butter and water - which I later reduced and used as a sauce for them; and alongside the potatoes I steamed some carrots that I had sliced into spaghetti like noodles (for texture).

I was really surprised and pleased with the way it turned out. It had quite a firm texture, not flaky, which I believe would hold up well to grilling. It was also very mild, but with an underlying richness that wasn't overwhelming. I can see how it would go beautifully with salsa's, much like tuna.

If you can see beyond its appearance I think Monkfish is well worth a try. Apparently the old adage is right in this case. . . now, about its personality. . .