Recipe - Nutmeg-Scented Sorrel Salad With Roasted Shallots

20 Mediumsized shallots
1 One fourth teaspoon Freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoon Plus One fourth cup olive oil
6 tablespoon Coarse salt
2 cup Sorrel leaves, thick ribs
removed
6 cup Assorted greens, such as
mache, italian chicory,
bibb lettuce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
8 teaspoon White wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground
black pepper, to taste
10 ounce Monkfish, cut into 8 thin
fillets
Flour for dredging

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Peel the shallots, keeping the root ends
intact. Place them in a bowl, and mix well with One fourth teaspoon of nutmeg and
2 teaspoons of olive oil. Make a bed of coarse salt in a roasting pan, and
spread the shallots out in a single layer over the salt. Roast in the oven
for about 20 minutes, basting with additional olive oil to prevent the
outer layer of the shallots from toughening. The shallots are done when
they're browned outside and just soft inside. Keep warm.

Rinse the sorrel and the greens. Dry well, and keep cool. Prepare the
vinaigrette: Place the mustard in a bowl. Whisk in the vinegar. Add One half cup
of the olive oil slowly, in a thin stream. Add One half teaspoon nutmeg, and
season with salt and pepper to taste.

Lay out the monkfish fillets. Cut 1/4inch notches all around the perimeter
of each fillet. (This prevents the fillets from curling up in the pan.)
Dredge the fillets well in flour, seasoned with salt and pepper. Place the
remaining One fourth cup of olive oil in a saute pan over mediumhigh heat. When
the oil is very hot, saute the monkfish quickly, about 1 minute per side,
until golden brown and just cooked. Remove from pan, and brush each fillet
very lightly with a bit of the vinaigrette.

Assemble the salad: Place the dried greens in a large bowl. Cut the warm
shallots in half, lengthwise, and toss with the salad. Add the vinaigrette,
and mix well. Divide the salad among four plates, and nestle two monkfish
fillets into the salad on each plate. Grate about 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
over each salad.

Suggested wines: '93 Chablis; Sancerre Rouge; and/or an Alsatian Pinot Noir

Yield: 4 servings.

Recipe by: Cooking Live Show #8888 Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #628 by
"Angele and Jon Freeman" jfreeman@netusa1.net on May 31, 1997