What to love about NSW by Brett McGregor New South Wales never ceases to amaze me. It does, after all, have Sydney, one of the greatest places on the planet to shop, eat and generally be merry. But, what I did not know was how many hidden gems of gastronomic delight lay behind every bend on the road as you wind your way up the Sapphire coast to Sydney. Cooking and eating with Josh Niland, an intelligent chef, inspiring and changing what good food should, is and always will be simple and delicious; the rolling green hills reminiscent of New Zealand, Captain Sponges tasty oysters and gathering the freshest seafood to cook out in the open on the beach with a glass of wine. Every Kiwi loves to get away and Aussie has so much offer just ask Rick Stein. I had the chance to meet, cook, laugh and share travel stories with this food legend. Every Kiwi loves to get away and Aussie has so much offer. Just ask Rick Stein! I had the chance to meet, cook, laugh and share travel stories with this food legend.
Rick Stein s Seafood Linguine Serves: 4 Cooking time: 40 mins 600ml Olivado Olive Oil 10g/ 2 cloves of garlic, no need to peel 12 medium raw prawns, peeled, shells and heads reserved 2 tbsp tomato paste 300ml water 350 linguine Salt 60g squid rings and tentacles 16 mussels in the shell, scrubbed 1/4 tsp chilli flakes 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes, halved 10 turns of black peppermill Handful of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped. Heat half the oil in a pan, add the garlic and prawn heads and shells and fry over heat for 5 minutes, turning them from time to time. Add the tomato paste and water, simmer with the lid on for 10 minutes, then use a stick blender to blitz the mixture. Pass through a sieve and reserve. Cook the linguine in plenty of salted boiling water for 10 minutes or until al dente. Wipe out the pan and then add the rest of the olive oil and fry the squid and prawns over a high heat for 2 minutes. Add the strained prawn and tomato stock, then the mussels, chilli flakes and cherry tomatoes. Bring to the boil with the lid on and boil rapidly for 4 minutes until the mussels have opened. (Discard any that don t open.) Remove the lid and if necessary reduce the liquor to a sauce consistency, then season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper. Add the well-drained pasta along with the parsley and toss together well. Serve immediately.
NSW: Marinated Abalone Serves: 2 1-2 shucked and cleaned abalone 1 diced and seedless red chilli 1 knob of ginger, grated 1 garlic clove, diced Olive oil Juice of half a lime Micro coriander Thinly slice abalone into thin strips. Place into a clean plastic bag, cover with a t-towel and beat using a rolling pin to tenderise. Dice/grate garlic ginger and chilli. Add all ingredients to small container with a lid. Shake until abalone is covered in mixture. Heat your pan on high and add the oil. Add abalone into pan and cook for 30 seconds. Serve in clean abalone shell top with micro coriander and lime juice.
Wild Kingfish, Rolled Silverbeet & Preserved Lemon Serves: 4 4x 190g portion cut Wild Kingfish fillets, skin on 2 bunch silverbeet 200ml clarified butter 1 whole preserved lemon (store bought is fine) 2 bunch chives Juice of 1 lemon Sea Salt Flakes for seasoning Freshly Cracked Black Peppercorns 100ml Extra Virgin Olivado Olive Oil Start by stripping the leaves off the stem of the silverbeet, set aside. To cut preserved lemon, use a sharp knife to cut the thin white pith off the lemon rind. Discard the pith or save for another use and finely Alice the tender rind and set aside for final garnish. Finely cut chives using a very sharp knife. Check that the skin of the Wild Kingfish is very dry by patting with a square of paper towel. Heat approx. 80ml of clarified butter in a small cast iron skillet till a light haze goes over the pan. This will indicate that the pan is hot enough to place the fish skin side down into the pan. Be careful when adding fillet to pan as hot fat may splash up your hand if you don t place the fish away from you in the pan. Place a small weight/saucepan atop of the fillet of Kingfish to ensure even crispness/colour/temperature. Cool on the direct medium high heat for approx. 2mins or skin is evenly golden.
Remove saucepan from the fish and transfer to a preheated 200 degrees Celsius oven where the fish will set for approx. 2-3mins depending on thickness of the fillet. Remove from the oven, drain hot fat from the pan and proceed to flip the fillet of Kingfish over to the flesh side then remove onto cutting board where it will rest. Using the same hot pan that was used for fish ladle another approx. 80ml of clarified butter into pan and pile on a generous handful of silver beet leaves. Season lightly then place heavy saucepan/weight on top and cook under edges are toasty and golden and the centre has almost steamed and wilted, approx. 2mins. Slide the spinach off the on and onto a clean surface. Season again lightly and squeeze a little fresh lemon over spinach along with black pepper. Roll spinach up into a tight cigar and finish the top of the roll with chives & preserved lemon. Using a sharp knife cut the Kingfish in half down the length of the fillet and then position the two pieces alongside spinach roll. Lightly dress the cut side of the fish and spinach with good quality extra virgin olive oil and be sure fish is seasoned with a little sea salt flakes. Serve the fish medium rare otherwise a fish like Kingfish will dry out and become horribly chalky and soft.