September 28, 2012

Fear of Frying

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You know if I had a dollar for every person that told me they were scared of cooking fish, I’d be richer than King Neptune. What I have learned over the years is that less is best when it comes to cooking fish, as most requires minimal accompaniments when cooking. A rub of garlic, a handful of herbs or a sprinkle of good oil if that’s your thing.

Coral trout, typically line caught in the Great Barrier Reef, is a favourite with the Chinese community who love for its sweet, slightly meaty flesh that flakes beautifully and lends itself well to aromatics like ginger and chilli. I found the tastes similar to very tender shellfish and interestingly; they are – according to
http://www.reef.crc.org.au/
 -  “voracious fish eating predators (piscivores). Younger juvenile trout mostly eat crustaceans, especially prawns which live on or near the reef bottom.” No wonder!



The dining community is usually wary of bottom feeding fish, often considered the dregs of the ocean, but I can assure that coral trout is worth its weight on gold and at over $60 per kilogram – it would want to be!

So here’s what I did to create this pescatarian paleo treat for dinner.

Coral trout with sautéed kale, broccoli and spiced cherry relish                        Serves 2

Hey, before I write the recipe up I need to ‘fess up that I don’t have the recipe for the cherry relish. It was in my fridge, a gift from my dear friend Lyndy and since she’s Chinese, I figured it would be a good match. Her festive relish has a lovely punch of star anise, which really boosted the soft white flesh, but you can use anything you’ve got kicking around your fridge.

2 coral trout fillets – about 160 grams each, skin on
1 cup cavolo nero/black kale, stalks removed and reserved for stock or compost
1 cup broccoli, broken into small flowerettes
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons of your favourite chutney, relish or low preservative sauce
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Cracked black pepper

  • Preheat grill to a high heat
  • Line a baking tray with paper and place fish skin side up
  • Grill fish for about 3-5 minutes until skin is crispy, the turn over and cook one more minute so as just cooked through
  • Meanwhile, heat a heavy based pan, add kale, broccoli and a little water and sauté gently for three minutes
  • Turn off heat, cover pan with a lid and let rest for another minute while you check the fish. Then add half of the lemon juice and toss through
  • In large bowl plates, evenly distribute the sautéed greens, pop the fish on top and then spoon your favourite relish over the fish
  • Finish with remaining lemon juice
  • Sprinkle with chopped parsley and season with cracked black pepper
 

January 23, 2012

Water Dragon Dumplings

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Water Dragon Dumplings

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Yep, it’s Chinese New Year and this year we celebrate the year of the Water Dragon. My mate Lyndy “Tricky” Lee reckons that it’s a good year to improve oneself, take calculated investment risks and to build wealth. She goes on to say that 2012 holds much promise and may be a major transition in your life. To bring good luck, place 9 oranges in a bowl in yr lounge room as oranges symbolize riches and are said to bring good financial luck for the coming year – and you  can eat them afterwards!

Check out Tricky’s Tasty Treats

Seafood dumplings  - Couldn’t find any fresh dragon, so I used seafood!  

100 g flat head, skinned and boned
100 g dice prawn meat
1 Tb fine dice spring onion
1 Tb fresh chopped coriander
1Tb  tamari
2 Tb toasted macadamia nuts, chopped
1 tsp fine dice ginger
1/2  tsp sesame oil
1/2 lemon zest fine chopped
1 small pack square Gluten Free wonton skins

Dipping sauce
2 Tb Chinese black vinegar
2Tb water
1 tsp sugar
good pinch of julienne ginger
good splash of chilli oil optional but delicious

  • In food processor blitz the flat head until just blended. (Do not over work)
  • Place fish paste into mixing bowl and add all the ingredients, fold together gently
  • Take a teaspoon of filling and place in the centre of a wonton skin
  • To seal the dumpling dip your finger into a cup of cold water and run it around the edge. Fold over filling and seal dumpling by pressing firmly between thumb and fore finger. Take care not to leave any air pockets in the dumplings themselves. At this stage you should have a rectangle
  • Now fold and press the two distant points together to make what almost looks like tortellini
  • For the dipping sauce whisk the water, sugar and vinegar together just enough to dissolve sugar, add ginger and let infuse a few hours
  • Drop batches of 12 dumplings at a time into large pot of salted boiling water and cook for about  2 minutes
  • Eat with chop sticks after dipping in the vinegar

Makes about 24 dumplings

 

July 13, 2011

Sustainable Seafood

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Local snapper with coriander pesto and fragrant, floral slaw

Here’s a handy list of sustainable fish and seafood for Australian waters. Choose wisely and choose well. Snapper is very prominent in our local waters near Byron Bay, as are Tweed Heads’ prawns, so it’s a good idea to check with your local supplier or fishmonger what is happening near your home. Buyer beware: Blue-fin Tuna is nearing extinction.

Enjoy Avoid
Abalone
Australian Salmon
Blue Mussel
Blue Swimmer Crab
Bream
Calamari
Crayfish
Cuttlefish
Flathead
King George Whiting
Leatherjacket
Mullet
Mulloway
Octopus
Oysters
Squid
Trevally
Western Rock Lobster		 Atlantic Salmon
Barramundi (sea caged)
Blue Warhou
Broadbill (Swordfish)
Commercial Scallop
Deepsea Perch
Eastern Gemfish
Flake
Gemfish
Hake
Kingfish
Mulloway
Ocean Trout
Orange Roughy
Oreo
Redfish
Shark (Flake)
Silver Trevally
Snapper (pink)
Southern Blue-fin Tuna
Swordfish
 

June 13, 2011

Mackerel Escabeche

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Mackerel Escabeche

This quick and easy fish dish is a highlight of many a cooking class. Simple to prepare and usually requires just a quick visit to your favourite fishmonger.

Best with an oily white fish such as spotted or Spanish mackerel.

Can be served warm or cold, as an appetiser, entree or mixed through a warm salad.

4 mackerel, filleted and pin-boned, skin off
2-3 tablespoons EV olive oil
1 large carrot, finely sliced
1 shallot, finely sliced
1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated turmeric or a pinch of saffron strands
50ml white wine vinegar
150ml dry white wine
1 tablespoon raw honey
Fresh coriander to serve

  • Season the mackerel and lay in a lightly oiled, wide dish
  • Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and add the carrot, shallot,  fennel and coriander seeds and turmeric or saffron
  • Gently saute for 2-3min, then add the white wine vinegar, wine and raw honey. Simmer for 5min
  • Pour the hot marinade over the fish and serve warm or at room temperature, scattered with chopped coriander leaves

Serves 4

 

April 7, 2011

The Ultimate Organic Masterclass

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The Ultimate Organic Masterclass

This is the quintessential organic cooking class for anybody who is serious about healthy food choices. The knowledge you walk away with will give you the edge and the power to start effecting positive change in your health with organic whole foods. Learn the latest facts about fats, figures and a whole lot of wholefood fun with a contemporary culinary twist.

*Certified by Paul Pitchford, author “Healing with Whole Foods” 2010

Saturday 30th April, 2011
1pm-5pm
LG Kitchen, South Melbourne Market 
$195 includes guest presenters, organic goody bag and selected wine

*Selling fast – Less than 10 places remain
BUY ONLINE NOW

To pay by EFT contact foodhealthwealth@gmail.com


What they’re saying….
“Do yourself a favour and go along to a cooking class, the food really is tasty and Samantha is a very easy person to listen and learn from.”

“The organic masterclass was enjoyable and informative. The recipes were practical making them easy to integrate into everyday living. Thanks Sam!”

“This was an absolutely invaluable and enlightening education on cooking to maximise nutrition, skill, pleasure and taste.”

“The amount of knowledge you walk away with in just a few hours is amazing. The recipes were easy to follow and the meals were delicious as well as being good for you. The presenters were very knowledgable and entertaining. They were also the calmest chefs I have ever seen.”

 

April 1, 2011

Seared sesame salmon, soba noodle salad with a ginger, wasabi dressing

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Sammy's Seared Sesame Salmon

When I was a 19 year old whippersnapper, I studied Japanese language and managed a Japanese Restaurant in Melbourne. I wore a traditional kimino everyday – can you imagine  - and learned  the tricks of the trade from my hilarious, sake infused Japanese colleagues.

This is a dish that I presented at the Organic Expo at Sydney’s Darling Harbour, which you can watch in action here
_______

2 x 120 gram salmon fillets, skin off
1 teaspoon ginger oil for coating
1 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon virgin coconut oil

Salad
250 g buckwheat soba noodles (100% buckwheat, gluten free)
2 spring onions, finely sliced
½ cup seaweed, soaked in warm water, drained
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 sheet toasted nori seaweed, shredded
2 tablespoon pickled ginger, shredded

Dressing
½ cup wheat free tamari
1 teaspoon brown sugar
½ cup mirin
1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar
1 teaspoon wasabi paste
1 tablespoon lime oil

All too hard? Watch that cooking demo here

Noodles

  • Cook noodles in plenty of rapidly boiling water. Drain and refresh under cold running water. Allow to cool. Drain and pat dry with paper towel
  • Combine seaweed with cold noodles and sesame seeds and toss well. Sprinkle with shredded nori and finely sliced pickled ginger
  • Heat tamari gently, and sugar and reduce over moderate heat to thicken. Whisk in remaining ingredients one by one, slowly adding lime oil to emulsify. Toss noodles through dressing

Salmon

  • Coat fish lightly in oil then roll in sesame seeds to coat
  • Heat a small amount of coconut oil in a grill pan
  • When hot, sear salmon all sides until brown but still rare in the centre
  • Finely slice and arrange over the soba noodle salad
 

March 28, 2011

Salad of smoked trout with quinoa

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Salad of smoked trout with quinoa

This recipe was originally created for a segment on What’s Up Down Under TV with Frankie J Holden, which you can watch here. The shoot was at Hastings Point, about 25 minutes north of Byron Bay on a very windy weekend morning. Frankie J was just hilarious and we had a ball together!

I’ve swapped the original couscous for quinoa, which works just as well. That’s the thing about quinoa, you can dress it up or down, make it sweet or savoury and it always works well. It’s highly nutritious and you can check out the healing properties in older recipe posts. This is one of those great recipes you can throw together when there’s not much in the fridge, so it’s always worth having a smoked trout on hand – they keep well – if not just use great quality tinned tuna.

1 cup white quinoa, rinsed and drained
1 cup water
1 smoked trout skin peeled off, shredded
½ cup tamari flavoured almonds, halved lengthwise
4 cornichons or small gherkins, sliced
4 small pickled onions
½  cup kalamata or lemon myrtle olives, pitted
½ cup semi dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
½  cup sprouts

Dressing
2 tablespoons vinegar
¼ cup macadamia or extra virgin olive oil
Cracked black pepper

  • Place quinoa in a saucepan and cover with 1 cup of water.  Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer gently without the lid until nearly all of the liquid has been absorbed
  • Cover pot with a folded tea towel and then place lid so as to absorb remaining liquid and the quinoa has started to split from the husk and become slightly translucent. Fluff it with a fork
  • In the meantime, prepare dressing by combining vinegar, salt and pepper and then drizzling in extra virgin olive oil while whisking. Set aside
  • In another bowl, flake the trout by gently pulling it away from the bone. Add the almonds, cornichons, onions, olives and semi dried tomatoes
  • Add cooked quinoa and combine with salad, then gently toss with dressing and serve

Serves 2 as a main course

 

February 18, 2011

West Australian sardines with a minted quinoa, currant and pinenut salad

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Gluten free, Samantha Gowing, quinoa, organic food, surfing, low far recipes,healthy recipes, sardines, surf food, spa cuisine, Byron Bay,

West Australian sardines with a minted quinoa, currant and pinenut salad

Sardines are rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids which have an anti-inflammatory action and beneficial to the nervous system. Quinoa is native to the Andean region of South America, the principal food of the area. The leaves are similar to the spinach plant and seeds are cultivated for their nutritious protein and calcium components. High in Vitamins B & E, iron with a slightly bitter flavour.

16 WA sardine fillets
500 grams quinoa
1 litre vegetable stock or water
100 grams currants
100 grams pinenuts
2 lemons, zest and juice
1 cup fresh mint leaves, washed and dried
2 tablespoons lime infused olive oil
Cracked pepper to taste
Balsamic glaze to drizzle
Extra currants and pinenuts to garnish

  • Place quinoa in a large saucepan and cover with 700 ml water or light stock
  • Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer gently until all the liquid has been absorbed
  • When cool, fluff with a fork and add currants, lemon zest and juice, pinenuts, mint and olive oil
  • Heat a little oil in a non-stick pan and place sardine fillets (or under grill). Gently pan fry for 2 minutes either side
  • Spoon a small amounts the quinoa salad on to serving plates. Carefully stack sardines on top and drizzle with balsamic glaze
  • Garnish with additional pinenuts and currants, season and serve
 

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