Tastes of Tasmania

While in Tasmania, I was guest chef for the beautiful city of Devonport's Food and Wine Festival.  I had the honor of having the famous local Chef, Nigel Squibb as my....hmmmm..... assistant!?  Here are the dishes I cooked and a bit about the ingredients incorporated in them.

Caramelised Ocean Trout on a Tomato Tea Consommé with Truffled Peach

Serves 4

4  thick Ocean Trout fillets

4 tablespoons Tasanian Honey Company Leatherwood honey

200g Angel Hair Pasta

Ocean Trout being harvested
at Petuna Farms on Macquarie Harbour, Strahan

Olive or grape seed oil, for cooking

Consommé

5 ripe tomatoes, finely diced

2 cups water

Pinch salt and sugar

4 small shitake mushrooms, sliced

2 Assam tea bags

Truffled Peaches

1 slightly under-ripe peach, cut into julienne strips

1 teaspoon truffle oil

4 basil leaves, chiffonade

Remove the bones from the trout and cut into 4 fillets. Brush each generously with honey and set aside.

To make the consommé, place the tomatoes and mushrooms in a saucepan with the water, season to taste with salt and sugar. If the tomatoes are lacking in flavor, add more sugar.  Cook over a low heat until liquid is hot but not boiling.  Add the tea and allow to infuse over a low heat for 5 minutes. Strain mixture into through fine mesh or muslin. Set aside a little of the tomato and mushrooms and keep the liquid warm.



Sally and Michael O'Malley of Petuna at the farm.



To make the truffled peaches, toss the peaches with the oil and allow flavors to develop for at least 10 minutes.  Just before serving, add the basil.

Cook the pasta according to directions. While the pasta is cooking, heat a thin layer of oil in a non-stick pan and add the trout, skin side down. Cook until skin is crisp, turn and brush with any extra honey. Turn off heat and leave in pan until fish is medium rare, or cooked as preferred.

Drain the pasta and toss with the reserved tomato and mushrooms. Place a small high mound in the center of shallow flat based bowls. Top with the fish, skin side up and pour consommé around outside. Top with a mound of the truffled peaches and serve straight away.

Wine Pairing: Enjoy with a glass of the Jansz Brut Rose, it’s rich bubbles playing off the earthy notes of the broth and it’s bright finish balancing the silky flesh of the fish.

Jansz Tasmania Premium NV Rosé is a vibrant pink, reminiscent of rosewater and salmon. It has a lifted nose showing delicate rose petal and Turkish delight from the Pinot fruit, and fresh cream and nougat from the malolactic fermentation and extended aging on lees. The wine has a well balanced palate, with layers of strawberry fruit and creamy fine mousse. It finishes crisp and dry with zingy acid matched by lingering flavours of nougat, rose petal and citrus

Australia's iconic chef, Tetsuya of Tetsuya's fame, is passionate about the Ocean Trout farmed by Petuna seafoods. And so am I! Moist, delicate and silky, it is truly one of Tasmania's great gems!


Petuna is committed to sustainability in everything it does. No key decision is made without reference to its potential environmental or social impacts. Here's a word from the company on sustainability"

Tetsuya's signature, Confit of Ocean Trout

Environment

We aim to preserve the long-term health, function and viability of the natural environments in which our operations are conducted.
To achieve this:

• we act as responsible stewards of our owners’ assets and operate to leading practice environmental standards;
• we eliminate or remediate any environmental impacts of our activities;
• we continually improve the efficiency with which we use raw materials, energy and natural resources;
• we reduce or eliminate harmful emissions to air, water and land;
• we avoid net losses or degradation of natural habitats, biodiversity and landscape functions;
• we reduce or eliminate wastes;
• we prevent or minimise the impacts of adverse environmental incidents; and
• we work with our stakeholders to mitigate the environmental impacts of our product life cycle and supply chain.

We implement sustainability practices in a manner which is specific, accountable, and enduring as part of our business platform. To support the goal of enhancing enterprise value, our approach is to:

• Engage all employees as champions of sustainability through training, education and leadership;
• Improve our identification and management of risk and control all unnecessary costs;
• Identify changes in the business environment and adjust to position ourselves to survive economic declines and prosper in periods of growth;
• Foster a culture of innovation.

See more on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1IQPPCjcD8

 This next dish is great for parties or a “grazing” dinner that I’ve served alone as finger food or over a salad such as this classic American favorite!. If you like your lamb rare, as I do, you don’t need to finish in the oven – just brush with honey in the final minute or two of cooking and finish to your liking in the grill! Delish with a Tassie Pinot or ……more bubbles!

Tasmanian lamb (or all Australian for that matter) is grass fed with never any hormones or antibiotics.

Honey and brie lamb "pops" with a Chopped Salad

Serves 4-6

2 racks of lamb, separated into chops

salt and freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons Tasmanian Honey Company Manuka honey

50g King Island Dairy Seal Bay Triple Cream Brie or preferred cheese

Olive oil, for cooking

Chopped Salad

1 cup, finely chopped pumpkin

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 small head radicchio or treviso, finely chopped

2 cups chopped rocket leaves

1 chopped curly endive (frisee) leaves

2 Lebanese Cucumber, finely chopped

1/2 bulb fennel, finely shaved

Murray River Salt Flakes  and pepper to taste

King Island Brie on it's way

Preheat oven to 180C.

For the salad, toss the pumpkin in 1 tablespoon of the oil, lay on a lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until tender.  Cover with foil to keep warm.  Whisk the remaining oil with the lemon and mustard, season to taste and set aside.  Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Using a sharp knife, make a pocket in each lamb chop cutting horizontally toward the bone and season to taste. Spread one side with a little of the honey and place a piece of the cheese in the pocket, leaving 1/2 inch edge so the cheese doesn't ooze out.

Preheat a grill or ovenproof pan and add a thin layer of olive oil.  Add the chops, and cook 2 minutes each side, just to brown. Brush both sides with the extra honey, transfer to a lined oven tray and bake for 5-6 minutes or until cooked as preferred, and the honey is caramelised.

Toss the pumpkin through the salad with the vinaigrette and share between plates.  Top with the lamb and squeeze over a bit more lemon juice.

Have fun devouring it!