Vic Cherikoff
Author Archives: Vic Cherikoff

Soused sea perch fillets

Soused sea perch fillets

Serves: 4

Difficulty: 1hat

Ingredients

4×200-250g sea perch fillets (or other white fleshed fish)
300ml water
300mls white wine vinegar
300ml white wine
¼ teaspoon Australian groundwater salt
3-4 Wild Lime Confit
½ teaspoon Lemon Myrtle

Method

1. In a shallow, poaching pan combine water, wine and vinegar and bring to a boil
2. add the fish to the boiling stock; it will take about 6-7 minutes to cook so after 2 minutes from adding the fish, turn down the heat to a gentle boil
3. remove the fish and place on paper toweling to absorb the excess moisture
4. dust with the Lemon Myrtle

Styling

1. Simply serve the finished fish as is with the small limes scattered over it or alternatively, use the Oz Lemon to flavour a mayonnaise or some reduced white balsamic vinegar
2. serve with rice and /or wild rice, couscous, bulgar, barley or other grains (Vic tells me he adds some hijiki seaweed and chicken stock to raw rice, cooks it with the absorption method
and then forks through some rice wine vinegar or mirin and palm sugar once it’s done – you could even make sushi with this, adding a piece of the fish to the formed rice and cutting
each lime into a fan for on top)

Notes

Cooking this way can be made even easier for big batches of fish (or scallops, prawns, yabbies etc) if you have a strainer or tray with drainer holes in the bottom to fit into the
poaching pan. The idea is to keep the poaching liquid hot and not to cool it off too much each time the cold seafood goes in. Cook one batch, drain and spice it up and then add the next batch to the constantly simmering liquid.
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Dining Downunder Cookbook

This Australian recipe of Soused sea perch fillets is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Australia Day on Sydney Harbour

Recipe By: Benjamin Christie

Benjamin ChristieCooking this way can be made even easier for big batches of fish (or scallops, prawns, yabbies etc) if you have a strainer or tray with drainer holes in the bottom to fit into the poaching pan. The idea is to keep the poaching liquid hot and not to cool it off too much each time the cold seafood goes in. Cook one batch, drain and spice it up and then add the next batch to the constantly simmering liquid.

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Seafood laksa with wild limes and lemon myrtle linguini

Seafood laksa with wild limes and lemon myrtle linguini


Serves: 4

Difficulty: 1hat
Ingredients

4 cloves garlic, peeled
50g minced ginger
4 shallots
4 small red chillies (or as hot as you choose)
1 teaspoon peanut oil for frying
1 teaspoon of shrimp paste
500ml coconut milk or 300ml coconut cream
300ml chicken stock
400g snapper fillets cut into 8 pieces
8 – 12 scallops in the half shell
8 king prawns
2 squid tubes
½ teaspoon Lemon Myrtle
10g Wild Lime Confit
60ml Lemon Aspen Syrup
300g lemon myrtle linguini
a generous tablespoon of salt
a dash of sesame seed oil

Method

1. Mince the garlic, ginger, shallots and chilli together using a sharp knife and a levered chopping action; then, in a hot pot with a little oil, quickly fry the minced ingredients allowing the aromatics to be released; add in the shrimp paste and continue frying for half a minute longer
2. add the chicken stock, boil and begin reducing, after a few minutes add the coconut milk, lower the heat a little (keeping at a simmer) and continue reducing, the aim is to reduce the volume to a thick soupy consistency – if you are in a hurry, use coconut cream and you won’t have to reduce it so much
3. in another pot, boil some salted water for the lemon myrtle linguini, put in the pasta and make sure it doesn’t stick together by gently stirring once the pasta has softened (about 2 minutes) – stirring before this time tends to break the pasta up as it can still be hard and brittle on the inside
4. while the flavour base in the pot is reducing down to around ¼ of its original volume, begin to prepare the seafood; peel and de-vein the de-headed prawns (I keep prawn heads and freeze them until I have the time to roast them and then cook them down in seasoned water to make a rich shell-fish stock which I also freeze in ice cube trays for later use), cut the squid tubes into bite sized pieces and score these with diagonal, parallel cross cuts; finally, remove any bones from the snapper fillets.
5. when the lemon myrtle linguini is cooked, drain it, add a dash of sesame seed oil to stop it sticking (and for flavour, of course) and set aside
6. add the squid, snapper, prawns and finally the scallops, wild limes and lemon aspen syrup to the coconut stock reduction and keep the laksa at a gentle boil until the seafood is cooked

Styling

Place a little lemon myrtle linguini into either a bowl, then spoon out the seafood, fishing for 2 pieces of the seafood and two wild limes per serve. Ladle in the laksa sauce, sprinkle on the extra flavour with a little lemon myrtle and top the lot with a sprig of coriander and chervil.

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Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Seafood laksa with wild limes and lemon myrtle linguini are included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Crowne Plaza Newcastle

Recipe By: Benjamin Christie

Benjamin ChristieIn my early days as a chef, I spent some time in South East Asia exploring the different tastes and cuisines of the region. One region which I particularly enjoyed was Georgetown, Penang, the home of the world famous laksa. I learnt their standard recipe from a well known, local chef, who, let me tell you, loves his Laksa super-spicy. I have adapted his recipe here and added in a native twist to have the taste buds going wild. From time to time, I also add straw mushrooms, English spinach or baby beetroot leaves, snow peas, asparagus or even zucchini. It’s also great with chicken breast strips or deep-fried tofu instead of the seafood.

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Saltbush Lamb with kumara smash

Saltbush Lamb with kumara smash

Serves: 4

Difficulty:1hat

Ingredients

4 saltbush lamb backstraps on the bone
2 large kumara
oil for frying
a pinch of Fruit Spice
several generous pinches Wild thyme mix
a couple of pinches of Alpine Pepper
2 bunches broccolini
200ml lamb jus
4 figs
beetroot jam

Method

1. Remove the meat from the bone with a sharp, boning knife
2. season the lamb with wild thyme and tie it in place, back on the bone
3. pan sear the lamb to brown and cook it in a preheated oven for 8 minutes at 250°C
4. remove the meat from the oven and rest for 8 minutes
5. peel the sweet potatoes and dice, steam in the microwave for about 10 minutes or until soft
6. using the same pan in which the lamb was cooked, add the sweet potato and a drizzle of olive oil and fry until the potato becomes crispy; add Fruit Spice and Alpine Pepper to taste
7. steam the broccolini and grill the figs
8. heat the jus and add a couple of pinches of Alpine Pepper

Styling

To serve, remove the lamb from the bone and slice the backstrap. Use a mould to shape the sweet potato, place the broccolini on top and arrange the lamb on top or next to the broccolini and figs. Finish the dish with a little jus and beetroot jam; you won’t need much as the lamb is nice and juicy.

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Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Saltbush Lamb with kumara smash is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Ribeye steak with broccolini, shitake mushrooms and wattleseed jus

Ribeye steak with broccolini, shitake mushrooms and wattleseed jus

Serves: 4

Difficulty:Ribeye steak with broccolini, shitake mushrooms and wattleseed jus title=

Ingredients

4 X 220g ribeye steak / scotch fillet
20g akudjura (dried bush tomato)
1 bunch broccolini (or conventional broccoli)
100g shitake mushrooms
100ml beef jus / sauce
6g ground wattleseed
4 sprigs watercress

Method

1. Heat a medium sized pan or flat BBQ plate to medium hot (not super-heated and smoking).
2. In a saucepan, add the pre-made jus or start with a good quality stock and reduce it down by boiling it until thick; add the wattleseed at any time and let it boil.
3. On a plate or tray, spread the akudjura with a little rock salt and ground pepper. Then place each steak into the mix, crusting evenly on each side of the steak.
4. Once the pan or plate is at medium heat, add a little oil then place each steak into the pan. Allow the akudjura to caramelise and blacken (it will do this from the sugars naturally in the bush tomatoes. Only turn the steak once to cook the other side as this will seal in the juice more.
5. Once cooked to the desired doneness, remove and allow to rest in a warm place for about 5 minutes. While the meat is resting, quickly prepare the broccolini and shitake mushrooms.
6. Using the same pan or flat BBQ, add a little oil and the shitake mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Remove when golden.
7. In a hot wok, place a little oil and quickly wok toss the broccolini until cooked.

Styling

1. Use a medium sized main course plate.
2. Place the wok tossed brocollini in the centre of the plate. Upon this place the steak, then the shitake mushrooms.
3. Around the base of the plate pour the sauce around the base of the brocollini.
4. Serve with a sprig of watercress.

Notes

Broccollini is an Australian horticultural development of a cross between broccoli and Japanese kale and is becoming an important export product for Australia.

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Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Ribeye steak with broccolini, shitake mushrooms and wattleseed jus is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Pork braise with bunya nut and Australian rice grass

Pork braise with bunya nut and Australian rice grass

Serves: 4

Difficulty: 1hat

Ingredients

4 pork hocks
3 litres chicken stock
1 onion diced
1 chopped chilli
½ teaspoon Wildfire Spice
½ teaspoon Lemon Myrtle
1½ teaspoons Alpine Pepper
200g brown rice
50g Australian rice grass
50g Inuit wild rice
12 bunya nuts (24 halves)
160g snowpeas

Method

1. Preheat your oven or BBQ to about 180°C
2. stab the meat of the hocks with a narrow blade knife making an incision which fits your finger; sprinkle Alpine Pepper into the cuts so that the flavours can penetrate all the way through the meat as it cooks
3. in a hot, oiled, deep roasting pan, brown the hocks on all surfaces to flavour the outside; once half done, add the onion to brown it as well
4. once browned, remove from the heat and pour in the stock and add the chilli
5. cover the meat with aluminium foil ensuring that the plasticized metal sheet does not touch the meat but sits proud; if this is not possible, cover the meat with a piece of baking paper or paperbark and then cover with the foil; (the main thing is to never let anything you will actually eat, be cooked in contact with foil, see page 134)
6. place in the oven for 2-3 hours or until the meat easily pulls away from the bone; the pan can be uncovered for the last 30 minutes of this time (when you can also start to cook the rice as below)
7. once the hocks are cooked, remove them from the liquid and set aside in a warm place
8. pull all of the meat away from the bones
9. reduce the liquid in the pan to ¼ the original volume; strain off and season this sauce with Wildfire Spice to taste
10. boil the bunya nut halves in a minimum of water and then allow them to cool in this water, this will make it easy to get them out of the shells; use almonds if bunya nuts are hard to get and you can boil them or dry roast them as is your preference, either way, chop the nuts coarsely
11. start to cook the rices:
12. add the brown rice and the rice grass to a saucepan which can be fitted with a lid; cover the rice with water so that the water covers the rice by 1½ times as much again as the depth of rice; said in another way; you can measure the 200g of rice and add 300ml of water; note that if you were cooking white rice using this absorption method only 200ml of water would be needed
13. for the rice grass (or Inuit wild rice), follow the above directions as for white rice and use a small saucepan
14. to cook the rices, bring the water to the boil and continue boiling until the water boils down to within the surface of the rice; turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and fit the lid to the saucepan; continue simmering for 10 minutes or until the rice is cooked as indicated by ‘blow hole’ in the surface of the swollen rice; remove from heat once done; place the snow peas ontop of the rice and cover till required to serve.

Styling

Serve the rices in a deep or flat bowl, topped with the braised pork, bunya and snow peas. Dust with Lemon Myrtle.

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Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Pork braise with bunya nut and Australian rice grass is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Lillipilli in the Rocks

Recipe By: Mark McCluskey

Mark McCluskeyThis recipe is a little ahead of its time in that it has an ingredient, Australian rice grass, which is only just entering commercialization stages. It may be a few more years before it is widely available but small amounts are beginning to enter selected gourmet stores. A substitute is the Canadian wild rice harvested and widely marketed as Inuit rice but it is really closer to the nutty dryland rice grasses of Arizona in the USA.

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Paperbark smoked barramundi

Panfried monkfish with bunya nut hash, rocket and macadamia nut pesto

Serves: 4

Difficulty:1hat

Ingredients

400g potatoes
12-18 bunya nuts
4×250g monkfish fillets
100g rocket
80g macadamia nuts
50g parsley
100ml olive oil
20g butter
30g honey
¼ teaspoon Outback Salt
½ teaspoon Rainforest Rub
Sprig of watercress for garnish

Method

1. First, peel the potatoes and bring them to the boil in small pot; in another pot, boil the bunya nuts and allow to cool in the boiled water
2. for the pesto; finely chop the macadamia nuts, rocket, parsley or blend together in a food processor and then reduce this mixture to a paste in a mortar and pestle adding a little olive oil, honey, Rainforest Rub and salt to taste.
3. remove the shells from the bunya nuts and chop the nut meat finely; drain the potatoes; coarsely mash both of these in a bowl and season with Outback salt and form into hash brown sized patties
4. in a sauce pan, heat a little olive oil and melt in some butter; panfry the bunya nut hash browns until golden; it may require a little more olive oil during the process; make sure to keep the temperature down to low to avoid any smoking of the oil
5. ensure the fish is free of all bones and in another sauce pan heat a little olive oil and butter and pan fry the monkfish until also golden brown on medium heat

Styling

When cooked, place a bunya nut hash brown on the plate, top with the monk fish, then simply garnish with the rocket and macadamia nut pesto and a sprig of watercress.

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Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Panfried monkfish with bunya nut hash, rocket and macadamia nut pesto is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseedand paperbark rolls.

Episode: Redgum Restaurant at Boronia House Mosman

Recipe By: Benjamin Christie

Benjamin ChristieWhile I was an apprentice chef at the Watermark restaurant in Sydney, the kitchen brigade took turns on who would create the fish of the day offering. You could always tell the best ones as they often sold out by the middle of service and I’m proud of some of the best-selling dishes I concocted during my time there. Since then, in each restaurant I have run I have showcased the fantastic fish available in Australia, including my favorite coral trout. Although this dish is not one of the specials we created, it is rather similar in presentation and style to those we prepared many years ago.

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Panfried monkfish with bunya nut hash, rocket and macadamia nut pesto

Panfried monkfish with bunya nut hash, rocket and macadamia nut pesto

Serves: 4

Difficulty:1hat

Ingredients

400g potatoes
12-18 bunya nuts
4×250g monkfish fillets
100g rocket
80g macadamia nuts
50g parsley
100ml olive oil
20g butter
30g honey
¼ teaspoon Outback Salt
½ teaspoon Rainforest Rub
Sprig of watercress for garnish

Method

1. First, peel the potatoes and bring them to the boil in small pot; in another pot, boil the bunya nuts and allow to cool in the boiled water
2. for the pesto; finely chop the macadamia nuts, rocket, parsley or blend together in a food processor and then reduce this mixture to a paste in a mortar and pestle adding a little olive oil, honey, Rainforest Rub and salt to taste.
3. remove the shells from the bunya nuts and chop the nut meat finely; drain the potatoes; coarsely mash both of these in a bowl and season with Outback salt and form into hash brown sized patties
4. in a sauce pan, heat a little olive oil and melt in some butter; panfry the bunya nut hash browns until golden; it may require a little more olive oil during the process; make sure to keep the temperature down to low to avoid any smoking of the oil
5. ensure the fish is free of all bones and in another sauce pan heat a little olive oil and butter and pan fry the monkfish until also golden brown on medium heat

Styling

When cooked, place a bunya nut hash brown on the plate, top with the monk fish, then simply garnish with the rocket and macadamia nut pesto and a sprig of watercress.

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Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Panfried monkfish with bunya nut hash, rocket and macadamia nut pesto is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Redgum Restaurant at Boronia House Mosman

Recipe By: Benjamin Christie

Benjamin ChristieWhile I was an apprentice chef at the Watermark restaurant in Sydney, the kitchen brigade took turns on who would create the fish of the day offering. You could always tell the best ones as they often sold out by the middle of service and I’m proud of some of the best-selling dishes I concocted during my time there. Since then, in each restaurant I have run I have showcased the fantastic fish available in Australia, including my favorite coral trout. Although this dish is not one of the specials we created, it is rather similar in presentation and style to those we prepared many years ago.

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Paella with shellfish and lemon aspen fruits

Paella with shellfish and lemon aspen fruits

Serves: 4
Difficulty:1hat
Ingredients

8×50g snapper fillets
8 medium scallops
8 king prawns
2 squid tubes
100g Bush Tomato Chutney
80g parmesan cheese
2 shallots
60g butter
8 lemon aspen fruits
300g of arborio or medium grain rice
20g Red Desert Dust
1 litre fish stock
50ml white wine
15ml olive oil
5g Outback Salt

Method

1. In a paella or wide saucepan heat a little butter and olive oil, shallots and Red Desert Dust on low heat; then add rice to the pan and sauté until translucent
2. when the rice grains are translucent add in the white wine, bush tomato chutney then the stock; place on low heat and allow the rice to cook slowly.
3. while the rice is gently cooking away, begin to prepare the seafood; remove any bones from the snapper fillets, peel and de-vein the de-headed prawns and slice in half
4. cut the squid tubes into bite sized pieces and score these with diagonal, parallel cross cuts; unless the scallops are still in the shell, they require little if any preparation
5. heat up a hot plate or BBQ for all the seafood; place on the snapper and prawns first, and then put on the scallops and squid as these take very little time to cook; by cooking the seafood this way, it gives the paella a smoky flavour which is usually imparted by the addition of Spanish chorizo sausage in more traditional paella
6. try and cook all the seafood about three quarters the way through, this will ensure that when they are placed in the paella they are not overcooked and tough; add the seafood to the rice, as well as lemon aspen fruits; check the doneness of the rice and the consistency of the paella; a guide is to have risotto like consistency, yet enough liquid to form a sauce
7. when the seafood has been added, add half of the parmesan cheese, ensure you reserve some to top on each serve; taste and add salt where required

Styling

Serve in a deep or soup bowl, with a generous serve of parmesan cheese on top.

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Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Paella with shellfish and lemon aspen fruits is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: The Cowrie Restaurant Terrigal Beach

Recipe By: Benjamin Christie

Benjamin ChristieI guess every chef in the world has their own paella recipe. Traditionally, paella has chorizo sausages, saffron, olives, chicken, mussels and parsley. In some ways it’s like a risotto that is open ended, where you can add anything that tickles your fancy. In the studio I cooked up different native paella for the crew with emu proscuitto, squid, chicken, kangaroo sausage all flavoured with bush tomato chutney and Alpine Pepper using the same base recipe.

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Mud crab and smoked kumara gnocchi

Mud crab and smoked kumara gnocchi

Serves: 4

Difficulty: 1hat

Ingredients

200g mud crab meat
220ml coconut cream
1 teaspoon Alpine pepper
tatsoi leaves

For the gnocchi:
1kg smoked kumara
1 egg
200-300g plain flour
1 teaspoon Red Desert Dust
½ teaspoon Fruit Spice

Method:

If the crab is live, place it into the freezer for 20 minutes to kill it. Scrub it clean in running water. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil (enough to cover the crab and some) and put the crab in to cook timing 10 minutes from when the water comes back to a boil. Remove the crab and cool it down in cold water.

Break the shell and remove the meat. You could put all the trimmings and shell (crack open the body) back into the boiling water and reduce it down, maybe adding some carrot and celery, onion with skins and pot herbs such as bay leaf, sage and thyme and keep cooking it down to concentrate to a really good crab soup after straining it. But we are just after the crab meat here.

For the gnocchi:
1. in a large cast iron or pottery pot with a well-fitting lid, place some damp paperbark (you can use off-cuts for this); place in your kumara which you could cut into large sections if you have plenty of time or smaller pieces if you have less
2. fit the lid and put the pot over medium heat for 25-45 minutes or until the kumara is soft; try not to open the pot for at least 20 minutes as it will fill with smoke and this is when the kumara is cooking most and picking up its flavour; remove the kumara once it’s done and a knife passes easily into the largest piece
3. ¾ fill a large saucepan with water (make sure your pot is big enough for all of your gnocchi to fit into), salt the water and bring to the boil
4. mash the smoked kumara, skin and all, either by hand or in a food processor
5. use a mixer with a paddle fitted and add the kumara, egg, the spices and 200g of the flour
6. turn the mixer to a low setting operate until the mixture starts to form a ball, stop the mixer and check the wetness, if it sticks to your fingers add more flour until it just doesn’t
7. tip the mix out onto a floured bench top
8. divide the mixture into 4 equal sausage like shapes, roll it out until you get the required thickness you like, (usually about as thick as a breakfast sausage is good); cut the gnocchi into 2.5cm pieces, use a fork to add a texture to the tops and place on a floured plate until you’re ready to cook them
9. warm the coconut cream in a small saucepan and add the Alpine pepper once it is hot but not boiling (just heat to a very gentle simmer and remove from heat); leave the spice to infuse
10. transfer the gnocchi to the boiling water and stir once; when the gnocchi floats to the surface remove them to a large bowl; drizzle some oil over them and toss lightly to stop them sticking together – you could use an infused olive oil here too say, Smokey fried garlic, Wild Thai twist or Garlic and Gumleaf in the Yarras Olive oil range but consider leaving out the Red Desert Dust so the flavours don’t battle

Styling
1. Try and get hold of plates that look funky, unusual shapes look good
2. a good trick is to use hot plates, as it not only keeps the food warm but as soon as the coconut sauce hits the plate the aroma will fill the room
3. place the gnocchi in the centre of the plate
4. lay the crab meat on top
5. drizzle plenty of the Alpine pepper coconut cream around the plate and serve extra in side dishes
6. to finish, scatter a few tatsoi leaves over the dish for more colour and freshness and maybe include some toasted macadamia nut pieces or pine nuts which can add what Vic calls
“textural crunch” to complete the dish

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Dining Downunder Cookbook

This Australian recipe of Mud crab and smoked kumara gnocchi is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Lamb Loin with English spinach semi dried tomatoes and bush tomato chutney

Lamb Loin with English spinach semi dried tomatoes and bush tomato chutney

Serves: 4

Difficulty:1hat
Ingredients

4×200g lamb loin, boneless and trimmed of sinew
8 asparagus spears
12 semi dried tomatoes
200g English spinach
½ tablespoon Australian olive oil
½ tablespoon butter
100g Bush Tomato Chutney

For the sauce

500ml beef stock
2ml vegetable oil
2 teaspoons Alpine Pepper

Method

1. In a pan, add a little oil slowly sauté the Alpine Pepper for a minute; add in the stock and reduce by 80%
2. Then, with a clean steel or small knife make a hole in the centre of the lamb; stuff in the semi dried tomatoes and carefully thread through the asparagus spears
4. using butchers twine, tie up the lamb to stop it moving out of shape during cooking
5. on a hot grill or BBQ seal the lamb, fat side first; the lamb is best served medium rare, check the doneness
6. remove from the grill, dust with Red Desert Dust and allow to rest before cutting
7. in a small pot sauté the spinach with a little olive oil and butter

Styling

To serve, cut the lamb loins into three unequal pieces and stand these rounds upright. Garnish with tomato chutney and spinach and drizzle a little sauce around the lamb.

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Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Lamb Loin with English spinach semi dried tomatoes and bush tomato chutney is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: The Three Sisters and the Post Office Restaurant in Leura

Recipe By: Benjamin Christie

Benjamin ChristieI really enjoy cooking with lamb in general, as I find it rather versatile for every situation from roasting, BBQ’ing, pan frying or wok tossing. During the week I take pleasure in slicing thinly then marinating some lamb fillet, then stir frying it with egg noodles, fresh crisp greens and a little Red Desert Dust. Be sure to sear the lamb quickly to ensure tenderness, add a little oyster and soy sauce to moisten the dish. Unlike weekdays when there is little time, Sunday evenings are generally reserved for the lamb roast, which for me, consists of stuffing whole cloves of garlic, rosemary and Oz Lemon into a leg of lamb and slowly roasting it to perfection and serving with a jus lie. A jus lie is simply made adding a little red wine to the roasting pan then reducing the liquid to produce a full flavoured sauce.

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