Monkfish à l'américaine

Remove all the skins, and cut the monkfish into pieces (3 per person).
Peel and chop the shallots.
Peel and crush the garlic cloves.

In a sauté pan with a little bit of oil, sauté the pieces of monkfish just a little bit on each sides.
Once well seared, remove them delicately (with a skimmer, a spatula ...).
Add the butter and fry the shallots and garlic without staining.
Pour white wine and shellfish juice and scrape to deglaze.
Add the tomato paste.
Season with pepper and Espelette.
Cook this sauce for 10 minutes to reduce it in half.
Taste and season (salt/pepper)

Return the monkfish pieces to finish cooking with a lid (about 3 min) in the sauce, adding the juice they have produced to the sauce.

Serve on warm plates, and top with boiling sauce.

Monkfish ("baudroie") is nicknamed "lotte" in the North of France. The classic one is Lophius piscatorius, but Lophius budegassa can also be found. Fresh, the skin is shiny and moist. The absence of skin, especially in large specimens, may be a bad sign.
You can also flambé the monkfish after having seared it (with marc or cognac).
Use the big central bone of the fish to make your own fish stock ! To transform "American" into "Armorican" (west Brittany), add 1 tsp. thick whole cream to the sauce (1 min before the end of cooking).